


It All Started With A Mistake

by Dotchi13



Series: Bittybones Universe [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), Angst and Fluff, Courting Rituals, Crushes, Different Types Of Relationships, Emotional Problems, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I promise, Instant Affection, Other Bitties WILL be introduced later, Owner is not that great, Possible Family Feels, Presents, Sibling Love, Slight swearing, Soriel in Places, Starts with Angst but gets Fluffier, This was a mistake and I don't care, Wish Fulfillment, adoration, holiday parties, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 47,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dotchi13/pseuds/Dotchi13
Summary: Bitty!Toriel is delivered to the wrong household, instead of the Classic Set of Bitties she was told she was going to be sent to, she found herself in a place that collects the most dangerous Bitties.Luckily She accidentally manages to win over the favor of one of the bitties by pure stroke of luck.





	1. Hello!

**Author's Note:**

> Woo!  
> More Soriel for the people! And now Bittybones are thrown in!  
> Hope you guys like this... And if you don't, that's fine too, because you know what?  
> This is purely because I want to, and because I like bitties.  
> I got nothing more to say about it, so enjoy the bitties :)

Toriel was a Classic Bitty, something she prided herself on even though she did admire the other Toriel Bitties such as the Queenies (Underswap), the Raggedies (Underfell), the Mumchers (Horrortale, and yes, it _is_ spelled correctly) and the DemiTori's (Reapertale) she knew she had skills the others didn't and weaknesses others didn't and she did her best to be prideful on the things she was capable of doing, Classics the best at opening up and bonding with others as she would put time aside for that where Queenies were too busy keeping an eye on other bitties, Raggedies were rather mean, Mumchers were usually _way_ too clingy for comfort to some and DemiToris were a little too distant, Classics did it just right. 

And Toriel was very excited she was going to be in a home with a whole slew of other Classic Bitties, she heard this human named Frisk had almost all the Classical Bitties, a bunch of Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Grillby and Gaster bitties with even more to come, and she was going to be a part of it!  
Her heart swelled, very excited as she sat patiently in her box, standing kind of a foolish thing to do considering the delivery person was a little bit of one to jostle.  
She had a bow on her back lovingly gifted to her by a Papyrus Bitty back in the shop that she had once been in- him having been the owner's- and she had a gift as all bitties did to try and impress her owner as she had made a Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie- 'A Classic for the Classic!' She snorted happily-, having baked and baked over dozens of pies before she finally found one that she deemed as the best, all of her care for the ones she would belong to and be around inside the pie, it looking gorgeous and smelling still just as gorgeous as she sighed happily before there was a _thud_. 

Toriel found herself being bounced around in her box, slamming against her care package as she just barely managed not to crush the pie as she slammed her elbow against the wall of the box when everything settled, " Please be more gentle next time!" She scolded as loudly as she could so it got through the walls.  
There was no answer, only a knocking on the door to alert the person that was inside a house that she was there as she clutched tightly onto her things and took some deep breaths.  
Hopefully she could make a good first impression on them.  
' _Frisk... That's such a nice name... I hope they like me..._ '  
She waited, fifteen minutes passing before someone deigned themselves able to answer the door.  
" Fucking Awesome! Finally got the Error bitty!"  
' _What?_ '  
They picked up her box and shook it as she let out a small cry and dropped onto all fours, barely smashing her pie again, scowling slightly as she resigned to sinking her filed down claws into the walls of the box to hold herself steady, holding the pie close to her when she was finally set down.  
" Now to finally complete the team. Boys! Come on you little Shits, come and meet the new Bitty!"  
She knew something was very very wrong, but she took a deep breath in and squared her shoulders, the bow made from the Papyrus scarf lovingly tied onto her from it's owner still fastened on tight, and the pie still in tact.  
Everything was fine...  
Everything had to be fine.  
Then her box opened and she came face to face with four smaller bitties, all of whom were Sans Bitties as her blood nearly ran cold. 

These were all very dangerous bitties...  
A Horror, A Murder, A Killer and A Nightmare.  
The pie she had worked so hard on to protect slipped out of her hands and crashed onto the ground of the box, breaking and losing it's perfection while she stared at them and they stared back at her.  
The mass of black tentacled goo that was known as a Nightmare and a bitty with black tears and no light in his sockets known as a Killer starting to laugh and laugh as their owner cursed seeing her and left, likely to go and make an angry phone call.  
Meanwhile the Horror looked appalled for her wasting food like that, and a Murder was staring at her and her scarf-bow, his blue and red eyes sparkling as the two made their way over to her and she skittered back, but Horror didn't mind her and merely dug into the broken pie like he was savagely hungry, complete with grunting and slight animalistic snorting as he tore into the gooey deliciousness, the Murder Bitty however making his way past the Horror as his eyesockets were wide and trained on her, Toriel's back hitting the wall, her eyes wide to match before he reached up and grabbed at the scarf, making her tremble, but though he was still staring at her, he seemed unfocused.  
" paps gave you this?" He asked.  
Oh yeah... All Murder Bitties have a special connection with Papyrus', even though Murder Bitties had no community of other bitties like Classics, Horrors, Swaps and even Fells, nor did they have a counterparts like Nightmares and Errors, they were created alone without anyone, it kind of made them crazy, not only in general, but also for connections, Classic Papyrus' seemed like mostly the things they wanted to stick around with, but all Papyrus-types were welcome.  
Though she will admit she has seen them bond with a few Toriels, unlike Killer Bitties, whom are also singular, Killers only bonding with Nightmares and Color Sans, though Killers can become Classics if only left alone with Colors, seeing as Colors were a Sans with the power of six souls, while Nightmares can only keep Killers emotionless instead of... murder-y.  
She nodded then at that reminder of Murders in her head, " Yes." 

" That must mean he wants you under my protection. from them."  
He motioned to the others with his head and she felt as if a miracle, and only a miracle had saved her.  
" Are they going to be a real problem?" She whispered to him, knowing all of them were quite dangerous.  
" not if I'm too much of a hassle for them, no." He grinned, showing off all his teeth in a way that nearly made a shiver go down her spine while his frosty blue and red eyes were fixed on her.  
" i'll show you around then." He reached out and grabbed her hand and she let her hand grip him, hand-holding coming as naturally to her as breathing, being that she did it all the time when she herself leads others.  
She looked back to her care package that was twice as big as her and wondered if it was okay if she went back and grabbed it, however the Murder waved his hand and the bag glowed purple with magic as it then floated after them. 

" S-So... What's your name?" Toriel asked, not knowing how to start it as the bitty that went up to her chest in height tugged her along.  
" Murder. our owner liked the names we had already had as groups of bitties and kept it with us because they are sadists who actually want to have dangerous bitties like us around to keep away other humans, and they don't care if we kill anyone or anything."  
" Have you killed before?"  
" it would be honestly too much of a hassle to get rid of a human body, but doesn't mean that Horror hasn't eaten fresh flesh or Killer hasn't murdered some animals in cold blood."  
" And Nightmare?"  
" he's the least ya have to worry about, he's fairly young so all he's been doing is causing what he does best, nightmares, it has made the owner nearly insomniac, but if ya get on his side he'll eat nightmares for you, he would do it for Killer, but keeping that guy in line with nightmares about what would happen if he killed a human is a fair trade, horror and i are not great pals with him, so he doesn't do that for us either, so we are consistently plagued with nightmares.  
Like i have dreams i have my own friends and loved ones and then boom there's nothing but dust and i killed them all like the demon i am, while horror has nightmares about starving and seeing his brother Teeth only to find him on the verge of dusting. stuff like that." He spoke about it as casually as if he was speaking about the weather around there.  
" How dreadful..." She murmured as they got to the end of the table, there being only one chair as they both hopped down onto it, and then down to the ground, even if the height of the fall made Toriel's feet ache a bit from the impact, her being a little smaller than the average adult's hand in height.  
" it's _dust_ what he does best, don't blame him for it even if i would _kill_ for him to stop it." Murder smirked to her before he led her along, " now we bitties have our own room because the owner is aware if they slept around us they would be dead or maimed, more or less. they may be assholes who barely spend time with us but i gotta admit they know how to keep a bitty contented." 

The room they entered was still larger than them, but Toriel could clearly see the ladders painted in various shades of red scaling up to bitty houses made of large dollhouses or multiple shoeboxes and various knickknacks as Murder showed her to his ladder which was red and blue like his eyes as he gestured to her, " milady."  
She knew when something was a set up for danger and when something was genuine, it was something all bittybones that were caretakers for others were born with in order to effectively survey a person or a place; and the way he gestured and said that wasn't in a mocking way, he was genuinely taking her in and offering to protect her -all thanks to the gift that was still around her neck- in a place where it was actually really dangerous to be defenseless.  
She had fire magic, but she was no skeleton, nightmares or not she needed to sleep and who knows what would happen if she did it here.  
She curtsied to him, " Kind Sir." She murmured to him as he nodded to her and she quickly scaled up the ladder just in case he decided to actually mess with her and shake the ladder or something.  
You really could never put it past even a Classic Sans if they were in a particularly bad mood. 

It was when she was all the way up he started climbing, her care package landing beside the home before the magic let up as she looked over the home.  
Murder's home itself was on the left of the room as it was a large doll house painted as grey as monster dust, the inside having blue, red or even purple articles, a spool of ribbon serving as his table as a tiny beanbag served as the only chair, there being crazed drawings on paper plastered all over the walls of a floating Papyrus head with only his scarf and children with red eyes and knives, all of it was a very terrifying sight honestly as she turned her eyes from it, him closing the house up behind them for a look around as the windows were too small for the other bitties to fit through, although Murder cut into parts of the house to make it weak enough to smash through just in case.  
" Has there been any attempt on your life?" Toriel asked, noticing the slits for the purpose.  
" i have no meat on my bones so horror isn't interested and killer is kept in check by nightmare, so no, not yet, though, can't say I haven't made half-hearted attempts on them to bug them. without any 'good bitties' around we don't really have much to terrorize, but i don't think our owners know that." He shrugged lazily before his eyes widened and sparkled, " hey wait, you're made of flesh, right?"  
Toriel didn't really like where this was going, " Yes..." 

" then maybe horror actually might pay us a visit! our owner always feeds us on a schedule, no snacking around the clock like horror wants, so if he's feeling peckish enough he might drop on by! Heeheeheeheehee!" Murder giggled, looking to the ground as his left eye twitched like crazy before he stopped as if someone reminded him he was making her uncomfortable.  
He then hummed and rolled his head back to look at her, " don't worry though... you're under my protection. i won't let anything happen to you."  
His eyes sparked with magic before he gave a small snort, smile fixed on his face as he walked up the stairs with her to follow, all the walls of the upper floor knocked down to allow a big bed made out of sponges and torn fabrics, making it only one big bedroom.  
" if your care package doesn't carry what we need, this is your space to _try_ and sleep, if Nightmare lets you." He reminded her before he then made his way back downstairs to open up the house and get the care package.  
When they got there they found it already open and tipped to the side as Horror was seizing all the food in it. He froze like a deer in the headlights as the house opened, Toriel feeling a pang inside her.  
" You can have it if you want..." She offered, there being a beat that went by before Horror finally blinked his sockets.  
" i was takin' it anyways, but thanks, food dropper." He then literally jumped off the platform, his form smacking down below and causing some treats to splatter before he scrambled, grabbing everything and tearing to his own home across the way as apparently Nightmare and Killer lived side by side across from the door.  
" heh, man horror really hates it when people waste food. he hates our owner because they throw out scraps instead of giving it to him and letting him use it, he's never been forgiving for that kind of thing, so i have no idea if he'll forgive you." Murder looked to her with a grin as Toriel felt anxiety well inside her.  
" I... I'll try and do something to change his mind."  
" well good luck with that. seeing as the grub's gone, let's look and see what else they got for ya." 

" Some things I brought myself, because they were things I liked." She confessed as they both dug in, coming up with six outfits for her and a box taped tightly shut, it being cooking things packed together tightly as she smiled and moved the box inside as it carried bowls, tins, pans, utensils, things that she wanted and she brought for to bake, minus the ingredients as she had actually been sure that she could get what she might require from her owner, but now she wasn't too sure.  
" this is some good stuff." Murder muttered as he pulled at the yarn ball that Toriel was going to use to knit, the fabric soft while Toriel had the knitting needles packed in the box with the cooking utensils.  
" Thank you Murder." She chimed happily to him, nearly delirious with the happiness that most everything was still there as the care package was sparse, but it had the essentials and that was a good thing as the small package was then cleared.  
Toriel frowned and looked over it, wondering if they could fashion the bag to anything, but deciding to push it to the side, or more accurately behind the house, as Murder watched her, silent.  
" Something wrong?" She asked questioningly.  
" nah, i was just thinking about how long you might be here or something like that. after all, you being here was a mistake.

She froze slightly.  
It was the truth, but for some reason the fact that the skeleton that decided to protect her was actively acknowledging the mistake caused her to feel a bit bad.  
She turned to him then fully, making her way to him, towering over him, but he was not in the least bit intimidated as she looked down to him in worry, " That may be the truth, but it is fine. I am here, and I have you, so let's make the best of this, alright?"  
He stared to her in a semblance shock, as if she had rattled him down to his core, silent as she then flashed him a small smile before going inside, there was a pause before he followed her into the house, letting her set up everything she needed to, even if he made it clear that some things were not to be changed like the drawings, it soon hitting afternoon, so much happening just in the beginning of the day, with more to come.


	2. Lunch With The Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel has Lunch with the Boys, has a small brush with danger and washes dishes with Murder.

Toriel made her way to the kitchen again with Murder, both of them standing by the chair as Toriel couldn't reach to the seat, looking to Murder for the answer before he pulled his hand out of his pocket and thrust it at her with his palm flat, there being a _ping!_ sound, her soul turning blue as she was seized by him before soaring up to the top of the table with a scream, there being only a second before he roared with laughter, her landing on the top on all fours and trembling before she scrambled back and looked down at him.  
" Please warn me next time!" She scolded him.  
" heeheehee! that was too funny though! your screams were amazing! hehehehehe*snrk!*AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He roared with laughter after the snort as if it had bumped up his laughter as Toriel watched him not with disgruntlement anymore, but with a slight bit of defeat and warmth as she surrendered a few giggles herself, she knew she laughed just like he did when she was really amused and even bleat with her snorting, deciding it was fine he found enjoyment in her screams as long as she wasn't maimed over it as she looked around, finding the owner was finishing making something as the others were already there.  
Nightmare and Killer were playing in the box she came in, there having nothing done with it as she had noticed this place wasn't really the cleanest with things scattered about the home, Horror sitting by a singular big plate by himself and there being nothing else so she didn't have anything to bring Murder up with, frowning and looking down to where he was to find him gone.  
" boo."

She jolted and whirled around to see Murder behind her with his _killer_ grin as he snickered.  
" scared out of your _fur_? interesting. have you forgot i'm a type of Sans? most of us can teleport you know."  
She felt a pink flush cover her cheeks, feeling foolish as she stood and brushed out her dress, " I will keep that in mind." She assured him then as Murder led her to the plate, Horror looking to them as Toriel noticed that his front was still covered in the Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie in places with some saliva marks as he obviously tried to suck out the flavoring smeared in his shirt, noticing then that his jacket and his shirt were basically flecked with old food pieces and marks as the instinct inside her wanted to clean off his shirt, her hand raising as both Murder and Horror looked to her, watching her. 

" heh, something bothering you food dropper? you _crust_ gotta relax. food is much better less tense." He ran an ecto-tongue across his sharp teeth, Toriel retracting her hand as there was a beat of silence as she stared at him before her eyes steeled.  
" Do you have any other clothes?"  
Horror stared at her blankly, " yes?"  
" but those are pretty ruined too." Murder shrugged, " owner's washing machine broke and they stopped trying to fix it. their clothes aren't much better."  
" they look like a bum." Nightmare spoke as him and Killer came close from their playing, plopping down on different sides of the plate closer together, " they look as dirty as their soul actually is."  
" stars what I wouldn't give to murder them." Killer giggled as his visible circular soul at his front started to twitch, Toriel having not noticed before as everyone but Nightmare tensed, Horror tightening a hold on something she noticed was a twig with a piece of glass embedded in it looking like an axe, sharpened to a dangerous point as the caretaker in her wanted to snatch it from him and file it down to harmlessness like all bitty Toriels did.

" well too bad, they're the only one giving us any fucking food and if you do that I don't fucking care if ya are nothing but bones, I'll make marrow stew outta ya." Horror pointed his glass axe at Killer with a snarl, his one good red eye bright with the threat, quite ready to launch himself at Killer and try his luck, not wanting the only supply of food for him to disappear.  
" good luck on that Horror, we all know you're the weakest out of all of us." Killer seemed to roll his eyes even though he had no eyelights in his sockets.  
" i may be the weakest but I'm the most willing to do the gory shit to humans, nightmare is the one that hasn't killed anything yet. Well that and..." His eyelight flicked to Toriel, " the food dropper."  
All eyes fixed on her and instead of shrinking she set her shoulders back, even as her eyes fixed down on the plate, " I am sorry for dropping the food. I was just startled."  
" no excuse, you were perfectly content on wasting food just because you dropped it, it was not splattered on the ground and even if it was you were in a clean box-"  
" Shut up Horror, I brought food." The Owner cut him off and soon the plate was filled to the edges with crunchy Pandesal Bread Rolls, also known as Salt Rolls, with some fairly decent and soft Pandebono breads, breads baked with cheese, there being a slight cushion to them as Horror jumped on them and immediately dove in, everyone grabbing ahold of something and digging their teeth in as Owner had those with some Syrup.

Toriel ignored the part inside her demanding that this wasn't really dinner, only a filler and tore in the soft cheese roll, seeing as in her excitement in the morning she completely skipped breakfast as there was no sounds, there being only munching and chewing and slight grunting as Horror was perfectly content in stuffing himself until he wasn't able to anymore.  
After a pause the Owner then tapped on the plate with their finger, it making a hollow clanking sound as it alerted them all to the person, Toriel and the others staring at them.  
" So they apologized for the mistake, but seeing as it is so close to the Holidays there is nothing they can do but have us wait it out before they take you back." They grumbled about how stupid others were as they shoved the crunchy and sticky bread into their mouths, obviously lamenting from having wanted that Error Bitty as Toriel nodded and dug further into the bread, the roll almost as big as all the Sans bitties as Horror had already finished one off and was going to crunch at one of the Salt Breads, Nightmare tearing his to pieces with his tentacles and dropping them into his mouth as Killer hacking and slashing at the bread with what looked like a mirror shard. Murder was taking his sweet time unlike the others just tearing into it bit by bit until the Owner finished up and stood, making their way to their room and slamming the door shut before Toriel could properly tear herself away from the food and ask them questions.

A chuckle came from Nightmare as she looked to him before shaking her head with a sigh and going back to eating, soon the few rolls gone, everyone heavy with food, Toriel feeling drowsy from being so stuffed as Horror made his way off the table with a last roll to hide in his home and probably sleep while Nightmare leaned against the box she came in, closing his eyes as he got ready to pour Horror with a fresh new batch of nightmares with Killer laying on the other side so that neither of them made it slide, a peaceful silence falling over the place as Toriel stared at the crumb-filled plate around her.  
" don't worry about it, they always wipe it down later." Murder waved his hand as he sat beside her, " I mean it's too big to wash it yourself."  
" Not if I have help."  
Murder peeked an eye at her and smirked, shaking his head, " doing this stuff isn't really essential to keeping you safe, so why do it?"  
" Because what else are we going to do in the meantime?"

There was a small silence from Murder, " huh, good point, i was wondering when ya were gonna ask me 'bout that, I was gonna to tell you that we have absolutely no real form of entertainment outside of what we create for ourselves, so it's kind of... uneventful, you might say." He shrugged then as he brushed a few crumbs off the beloved scarf around her neck.  
" So why not do this with me?"  
"... heh, quite persuasive aren't cha? well alright, if you so _dying_ to help, then let's spice it up." His eyes flared with magic, his hands raising as the plate they were still on lifted up high, glowing purple.  
" Murder!" She gasped as the plate wobbled slightly, threatening to drop with them.  
" hehehehehe, don't worry about it tori, i got plenty of excess magic here with me." Murder assured before gesturing his hands out slowly, causing the plate to levitate forward at a comfortable pace for her as Nightmare peeked an eye open and saw them, knocking on the cardboard of the box, alerting Killer.  
" hey killer, c'mere and look at this."

The box shifted as the pressure Killer gave shifted off, making his way around as his eyesockets took in Toriel and Murder making their way to the sink thanks to Murder's powers.  
" oh... this is gonna be fun." He smirked and gestured his hand out as bones the size of large needles appeared, sharp and ready to skewer.  
" Oh no..." Toriel murmured as she looked behind them and saw Killer, Murder looking over his shoulder and grinning wider.  
" Looks like we're going to have a bit of a _mad_ time! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"  
The plate gave a shudder as Murder was losing focus and Toriel gasped and gripped his sleeve, Murder immediately stopping and losing his laugh, " hey, don't be a frightened little _kid_ , watch Killer, i'm going to direct the plate as you tell me because i can't keep an eye on him and do this, i am only one bitty."  
She nodded and turned her attention back only to have her fur nearly sheared off by a bone, " LEFT!" She yelped, Murder then gesturing his hands to the left and the plate moving along with that as they kept moving.  
" Further Left!"  
" Down!"  
" To the right!"

Soon they were at the sink as Murder released his hold on the plate, dropping it onto the stack as it was slanted, causing the plate to slant as Toriel yelped, rolling off into Murder and knocking them both into the sink with a thud while a bone imbedded into where they once were by the sink spout.  
Toriel grunted as she heard Killer laughing.  
" that was so much fun! let's do it again some time!" Killer called.  
Murder stood against the side and flipped Killer off over the edge of the sink as Toriel noticed her surroundings, immediately standing when she realized there was food in the sink and it attracted maggots.  
Pushing down the bile she shoved the stack of plates so that it showed off the drain and leapt up as fast as possible, yanking the hot handle 'on' as far as it could go, grabbing and yanking Murder out of the sink by the scruff of his jacket as she held him to her as he looked to her in surprise.  
" Are you alright?" Toriel asked as she looked to him.  
" I don't think so..." He felt at his wrists and neck vertebrae, " I can't feel my pulse!"  
Toriel bleated with laughter at that from the shock of the joke, finding it actually pretty funny compared to everything else as she laughed, setting him down as he looked to her in shock from her amusement before laughing as well as they laughed and laughed, getting louder as their laughs egged one another on to keep laughing, both of them soon calming down and watching the food slide into the drain as Toriel gave a small shudder, going to the other side and adding cold water so she wasn't scalded as she reached around her neck and took off the scarf bow, folding it and giving it to Murder. " So that it doesn't get wet." She assured him as he nodded and kept the scarf close as she then pushed over the soap bottle, pressing on it's side and letting it gush as the smell of lemons filled the air, grabbing the sponge that was as big as she was and jumping in, scrubbing at the plates as best as she could as whenever she was done Murder would lift the clean plate out of the sink and into the strainer.  
" hey, what do you think would happen if we scrubbed at nightmare? get him out of his _sticky situation_."  
" I'm not sure that's a _goo_ idea, he seems to like as he is." Toriel chuckled slightly, feeling more at ease with Murder since he got her to laugh and was not punning about killers or death as he grinned and they both bounced puns off one another until the sink was empty, Toriel climbing out as she shook her whole body trying to get the water off, but it didn't do much as she sighed. 

" let's go." Murder gestured, seizing her with his magic and gesturing her down as she floated to the floor, still a little tense but less so now that she knew what he was doing as he then appeared beside her, still holding the scarf as they walked back to the home, Murder grabbing Toriel her brush and one of her dresses as she thanked him and went behind the care package bag, using it as a cover as she brushed the water out of her fur and got re-dressed, it being evening when it was all done as it takes a while without help to brush wet fur added with the fact that dishes took nearly forever at their size.  
Toriel yawned, feeling pretty tired for all the day's events, but she wasn't going to miss out on dinner, afraid that it would offend Horror even more and she really wanted to be friends with all the bitties if she could, she just had to take it a step at a time, and she was happy that Murder was there with her as he greeted her outside the house before scaling down the ladder with her to follow to go and greet the others for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was near the end of writing this chapter I realized that I wanted Horror to have a different Love Interest, so I changed it to being clear they will be friends, I have a plan for Horror, definitely.
> 
> Edit:  
> So I finally got a commissioned picture from an amazing artist from tumblr, bloodsbane, showing Toriel pulling Murder from the sink if you guys want to see it!  
> https://dotchi13.tumblr.com/post/180289587897/another-picture-set-from-my-fic-it-all-started  
> It also has a link to Bloodsbane's tumblr page so if you like the picture you can see the one who created it and their other works!
> 
> Another Edit:  
> OH MY GAWD.  
> I got my first Non-Commissioned art for this fic and man is it GLORIOUS.  
> Check it out guys!  
> https://dotchi13.tumblr.com/post/181333961812/here-you-go-i-had-a-lot-of-fun-drawing-this-i#notes  
> I cried when I got this, just... Thank you :')


	3. Dinner, Baths and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel has dinner with the other Bitties, a fight breaks out, someone gets a bath and not long after gets to experience the effects of Nightmare and his powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~~~~~ Signal a timeskip

Before they hit the dinner table Murder motioned to Toriel to stop.  
" Something wrong Murder?"  
" you forgot this." Murder gestured for her to lean down before he looped the scarf back around her, tying it into a bow with the utmost care as if to mimic the Papyrus' work, taking a step back after and nodding in approval when finished, turning her soul blue again and launching her back onto the table.  
She landed more gracefully than last time on two legs instead of all fours seeing as she wasn't flailing in panic anymore, waiting for Murder to appear next to her for them to turn and approach the plate that the owner set out, it being sparkling clean thanks to Toriel as Horror, Nightmare and Killer sat around it watching them approach. 

The Owner murmured a thanks to Toriel, knowing it had to have been her before piling the new food on the plate, this time it being a large omlette that was a little burnt and sprinkled with ham and cheese and nothing else.  
It looked decent, but Toriel would have liked if she could use a fork and knife.  
She tried looking to the Owner for help, but she found them ignoring the group of bitties and eating with only a fork, all the boys having already sprung onto dinner and digging into it with their hands as Toriel sighed and pushed her sleeves up as far as they could go before she dug in as well, the ham being torn out faster than she could eat by Horror, Murder shoving a piece to her before digging in further, always looking out for her.  
Soon all of them meeting in the middle as she was the first to back off, Nightmare being the next one to follow, then Murder as Killer and Horror were having a stand off over the last piece of cheese and egg, Toriel watching with worry as Murder swaggered over to her, licking his phalanges clean. 

" Is everything going to be okay with them?"  
" mmm?" Murder asked as his red-rimmed frosty blue eyes moved from the standoff to her and then back to them, " oh yeah. killer just likes to stir up trouble, they might have a small toussle before he lets horror have it as always."  
" Toussle?" Why did she not believe that?  
" yeah, a knife here, a possible axe in the gut there..." He gestured before shrugging, " it happens, just like what happened earlier."  
" You mean when he tried to dust us?"  
" hey, killer isn't like the rest of us, he has absolutely no emotions besides the liquid hate pouring out of his eyesockets, insanity, hurt, and relative calm thanks to nightmare. all things considering he has been pretty... _knife_ to us."  
" What was it like before? Since you said that Nightmare is still relatively new." Toriel felt worry creep over her.  
" killer was always trying to kill everyone from the owner to horror and I, all the time. owner only had him two weeks before they decided they weren't going to put up with murder attempts every other night and got Nightmare earlier than they planned."  
" They didn't want to get a Color Sans because they knew that would make the exceptionally rare Killer Bitty into a Classic Sans." Toriel hummed, stating the obvious for it.  
" yeah, they're not looking for a reformed killer, they want the little psychos they paid for, i wouldn't be surprised if they had decided to start a bitty fighting ring after they have the complete set of us bad guys."  
Toriel looked from Murder to the owner putting a dish in the sink and leaving it there, feeling terror shoot through her, " You really think so...?"  
Murder chuckled at seeing her worry and shrugged, " eh, i can't read their mind, so i really can't say for sure honestly, they might just be a regular bag of fucks." He shrugged and looked to her lazily from under his hood, " i dunno."  
_Gack!_

Toriel's head whipped around, snapped from her reverie at the cry as she found Horror had lodged his axe into Killer's ribs, black goo dripping from Killer's jaw and past the axe blade in him.  
In an instant her feet were off the ground, racing to them like lightning.  
She grabbed Killer and Horror's axe and tore them from each other, throwing the axe off the table, everyone hearing the shattering of the glass part of the axe, Toriel turning her whole body to Killer and grasping him by the shoulders only for him to jerk in her hold, there being a _clack!_ as Murder had grabbed Killer's wrist, Toriel feeling the shard of glass that she had seen earlier in Killer's possession just gently brushing her throat as he went for the jugular for her grabbing him. 

Murder twisted as hard as possible on Killer's wrist and Killer let go of the shard, before Murder gestured his other hand in a quick motion as it cut off the launching of the enraged Horror with a wall of bones, having the hole-headed bitty smash into them.  
" MY AXE! MY AXE!" Horror shrieked in rage at her, trying to claw past the wall.  
" calm down horror we can get you something different!" Murder asserted to the enraged bitty as he looked to Toriel to snap at her, only to find his scolding die down in his throat when he saw her holding Killer still, her clawed paw pressed against with his wound.  
A glowing red magic was entering Killer's wound as he hissed and writhed in her hold until she finally pulled her paw away, showing a goo-marred shirt with a hole in it, but the bones were pristine and perfect as there was a silence, her letting go of him completely as Killer jolted back so hard he fell back, staring at her with empty sockets, the black goo of hatred from his eyes running down fast down his face and dripping down on his shirt as his soul was twitching viciously. " i could handle that!" He snapped at her as he pushed himself up.  
" I'm sure you could have. But I will not allow harm to come to one another in my presence!" Toriel asserted, her dark eyes burning into him as he knelt back and grabbed his shard, tucking it back into his jacket and going to join Nightmare as Toriel stood still before noticing the chunk of omelette still there, taking it and looked back through the bone wall to Horror before gesturing to Murder to let it down.  
" I am sorry that I broke your axe. I will try and find you a suitable replacement."  
Horror snapped his teeth at her and wrenched the omelette out of her hands and stomped off the table as she stood there, Murder sighing and rubbing at the back of his head through his hoodie, " you sure are a lot of work aren't you tori? heh." He shrugged, " fine by me i guess, better than nothing."  
" I suppose." She murmured as her shoulders slumped in dejection. 

" hey, don't worry about it, let's go home."  
" Not yet we're not."  
" no?" He asked as he looked to her with a bit of concern, a little worried she was going to do something stupid again, only for Toriel to turn to him and lift up his hand, showing off his greasy phalanges.  
" You are having a bath first and because I saw no bath at your house I have to wonder how long it has been since you got one."  
Murder merely looked to the ceiling and started whistling as Toriel rolled her eyes and pulled on him, " Come on you, let's go."  
" but mooooooooooom." He drawled lazily, only grinning to her when she looked back to him, unamused, " what?"  
" Nothing, I was just wandering what you would be if I was the mom, because while you certainly behave like a child, you aren't one."  
" oh so harsh t, i would be fun dunkle Murder."  
Toriel lifted a brow at the name but then merely shook her head, soon having Murder levitate out a nice wide cup from the cupboards, carrying it to the guest bathrooms which were actually pretty neat because owner never seemed to have guests, and with a bit of climbing and an adjustment period she filled the cup with warm and soapy water, sitting beside the full bottle of hand soap that was in between her and the cup, her back against the wall of gel facing away from Murder as she heard the shifting of clothes. 

" don't know why you are so bothered by possibly seeing me, not like i got a lot to show off."  
" That may be but I am not indecent enough as to watch you." She asserted, drying off her arms with a washcloth that was twice as big as she was, as her arms had gotten honestly a little sticky from the goo blood and the grease, having washed them off as she filled the cup, soon finishing up drying as she laid her head against the bottle, listening to the splashing and scrubbing. 

" So _water_ you thinkin' about?" Murder asked as he played with the bubbles.  
" I'm thinking of a way to make up to Horror for what I did to his axe." Toriel murmured before rubbing at her forehead to try and rub away the furrowing in her brows.  
" well, maybe you should keep in mind that he'll like anything axe-shaped."  
" What do you mean by that?" Toriel asked as she stared in confusion at a shower tile as if she was looking at Murder, not turning around.  
" what i mean is that horror was not brought here with a weapon. no horror bitties are, too dangerous to fellow bitties and owners- i mean, horror bitties can be pretty normal if placed around other normal bitties and fed constantly and treated with care, but there's nothing welcoming about a bitty carrying an actual axe, so they always send horrors with axe plushies."  
" What happened to his?"  
" owner said it was too kiddie, took it from him and threw it in the trash, ever since horror has been making due with what he can find to make axes, it's his security, especially in this place."

Toriel felt anguish fill her as even though she was breaking up a fight, she did essentially take an unstable bitty's comfort and throw it to where it shattered.  
" I... I'll try my best to find a replacement."  
" i _soap_ you do, after all you think he would hate you after dropping the food, but this is way worse, he may just rip your throat out with his teeth when he gets ahold of ya!" Murder chuckled as soon she heard the sound of him exiting and tossed the washcloth over the container of soap she was sitting against, hearing it being caught by something.  
" thanks t."  
" You are welcome." She then stifled a yawn, it having been a long and tiring day as she stretched and groaned softly, rolling her neck as she pushed herself up, " Are you wrapped up?"  
" yeah." 

She turned and saw Murder wrapped up and hooded thanks to the washcloth as he had taken a toothbrush and weilded it like a staff with one hand while the other fastened the robe securely, " hey, i'm death. i have come for you."  
Toriel bit her lower lip to try and stop a smile, but she couldn't help it, " You look very fluffy there Mister Death."  
" well you did catch me out of the bath, this is my towel robe. couldn't you have died at a less inconvenient time?" He smirked as she picked up his dirty clothes and went to the cup, dipping them in and scrubbing them as surprise flashed through his red-blue eyes before dying down.  
" Oh well I'm sorry Mister Death, but I _live_ to be an inconvenience."  
They both laughed, it being a nice moment before Tori went back to scrubbing and Murder put the toothbrush back in it's cup, noticing how clean it was. 

" hey tori, ya know in the whole time I've been here i never saw the owner have someone over?"  
" I don't know if that's much of a surprise to me anymore." Toriel answered honestly.  
" heh, no kiddin', still i wonder who woulda set up this toothbrush."  
" You haven't questioned that the whole time you were here?" She shot him a semi-blank look.  
" i was either in the kitchen or my own home, i didn't really stop to look around and smell the _lemongrass hand soap_." He snorted slightly as she pulled his clothes out and snapped them, looking over them with a critical eye before using her fire magic to carefully dry them off, turning away from Murder when he let go of the cloth, soon slipping into the freshest and warmest clothes he had worn in a long time, Murder felt almost light as he hummed and leaned against Toriel, feeling drowsy and more contented than he had in all the time he had been alive. 

He looked up and saw the blessing of a red scarf, finding himself smiling warmly before Toriel chuckled seeing him, picking him up and holding him to her, it coming as naturally as if they were born to do that, which it likely had been for them even if he was different as she carried him along.  
However Murder did not allow himself to go to sleep, Nightmare was still an absolute terror, yet he allowed himself to pretend as he snuggled to Toriel's warm dress and fur, hearing the beat of her soul and feeling weightlessness when she jumped down onto the rim of the tub and then to the ground.  
He kept his instincts wired no matter how comfortable he was, aware that the other bitties were settling down with some late night activities, Nightmare and Killer likely having already gone to bed as nightmares were their playground as they always had connected dreams together- and just because he was dreaming did not mean that Nightmare wasn't still doing what he does best-, while Horror was probably snacking on what Toriel's box had given up and trying to find new materials for a new axe as Toriel nudged him to awareness when they got to their ladder and set him on it to scale as she followed him before he pried open their house and shut it behind them.  
" Alright, I'm headed to bed."  
" good luck." Murder replied seriously to her as he went to his ribbon spool table and reached into the middle, fishing out pieces of paper to draw while she went upstairs and allowed herself to collapse on the sponges and fabrics, falling quickly to sleep from such an eventful day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~  
She found herself waking up where she passed out, in the bed of sponges and fabrics as she felt very very well-rested, humming as she stretched happily, hearing bones pop with contentedness, pushing herself up and standing, going to the stairs.  
" Murder, it seems as though you were wrong, I had a pretty wonderful sleep last night!" She chimed, only to find Murder not in the doll house.  
She wove her fingers together and stared at the beanbag chair that he had occupied when she had went to bed, trying to logic this out, " He must be at breakfast."  
She really would have to tell him that she was fine with being woken up early, she was no slacker.  
She opened the doll house and stepped out, finding him sitting outside by the ladder with his legs dangling off the edge.  
" Oh! Murder, is everything alright?"  
" everything's fine t. everything's pretty fine and dandy." He answered, not looking back to her.  
She reached out to him and touched his shoulder, only to find dust sticking to her paws when she pulled her hand away and looked at it before him. 

" I have a feeling... That this is a usual thing from you."  
" me being covered in dust? nah, that's my original counterpart. i'm a bitty, not an actual murder. we're a little different."  
" Still... I feel as if this is something natural."  
" aren't you going to ask who's dust it is?"  
" Will you tell me if I ask?"  
" heh." He shook his head and scattered the dust as something told her that something was deeply wrong.  
" Didn't you say that you and the other bitties haven't killed others?"  
" did i say that? i don't think i said that." He then turned to face her and she clasped her paw over her mouth, dark eyes wide as who stared back at her had empty sockets and a target soul on the front of his dusty jacket. Killer pushed himself up and unzipped it open, pushing the hood back as the dust scattered and his grin went even wider.  
" heh heh heh. hey there." Killer waved his hand as she suddenly felt like something wrapped around her throat, a gooey, tar-like substance as she choked and grasped at it while it lifted her into the air.  
" something bothering you? you seem a bit... _choked up_ , heh heh heh!" Killer chuckled as he pulled out his mirror shard.  
' _This is a dream... it's gotta be a dream... A Nightmare!_ ' Toriel jerked within the grip of the band of tar and then steeled herself, ' _The first step to defeating nightmares is to acknowledge they are Nightmares. If I want to have a good night's sleep I have to fight this! This is my mind, I will not let YOU BE HERE!_ "  
She saw a flash of light and her hands came up on instinct, catching the shard and with a jerk the mirror piece shattered, her hands then grasping the band and letting intense fire magic flare up and melt away the goo at a rapid pace, only for the band to tighten before she could make any more progress, severing her head from her shoulders.  
She felt her head falling until it hit a clump of dust with a _poff_ , knowing somehow this was Murder's dust as she watched her body drop to it's knees and turn to dust as her head followed. 

Toriel jerked up in bed with a gasp, grasping at the front of her dress as she heaved in breaths before gulping and letting it out.  
" still alive up there?" Murder called from below.  
" Yes! Yes, I am fine..." She called back to him, her hand smoothing out before her chest, taking another deep breath before shaking her head.  
That wasn't so bad... That wasn't as bad as it could be.  
One step at a time.  
She heard steps and found Murder's head poking through the hole in the floor as he looked to her with his cyan and blood red stare with his dissheveled smile, " morning sleepyhead."


	4. May I Axe You Something?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel tries to find a way to replace Horror's Axe and help Horror's hunger issue.  
> Perhaps there is someone no one had noticed who could help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Owner is a horrible human being.

Toriel and Murder left their house a little before everyone else as Toriel desired to have time to speak with their owner, wanting to be there early and Murder was really the only one who could get her there without injuring her in the process because they didn't care.  
Besides, Murder insisted that he needed to protect her and leaving him behind seemed a little detrimental to that purpose, even if the other Bitties were in their houses.  
He hummed a nonsensical little tune as they walked along, it having only been a day since she came here and for some reason Toriel already felt comfortable around him, she supposed it had something to do with Toriel and Sans bitties naturally getting along together, it always being suggested as the second best set of bitties aside from Papyrus and Sans.  
All Tori's, from Raggedies to Queenies and Mumchers, somehow always find a way to easily bond with their Sans' in some way or another, and the feeling was always mutual, either on friend terms because they were bonded to other bitties or on a romantic level, so it was really no surprise she would be attached to Murder, especially when he was protecting her and showing such warmth to her, even if she knew this connection only ever came about from the scarf fastened to her neck.  
She hummed, fondly rubbing at the scarf before they were at the table. Murder turned her soul blue, launching her up again before joining by her side as routine, Toriel walking towards the fridge, finally seeing the lock on it keeping it clamped shut from Horror.  
It actually had claw-marks on it and even a few dots from being bitten.  
" horror's tried to break in more than once, but he's got _no mind_ for it." Murder knocked the side of his head with his hand where Horror's hole was with a toothy grin, Toriel frowning and shaking her head as she then sat down on her legs, cross-legged, Murder quickly plopping down as well.  
" so... where were you meant to go?"  
" What?"  
" i mean... this wasn't your original place to go." Murder offered up as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
" It wasn't, that's true... I was told I was going to be living with a human named Frisk. They had the whole set of Classic Bitties with a few exceptions and they were waiting on me to arrive." She drew her legs up to her chest and locked her arms around them to set her head down on it.  
" so you wanna be with them?"  
" I think so... I mean they are who I am meant for... Still, I am here and there's no changing that until the Holidays are over as the Owner said... So I have to make the best of this situation, which I thank you for being there for me."  
" no problem at all, besides, it must be more fun here than it might be there, right? right?" Murder looked to her with wide and glowing eyes, as well as a skeleton grin that might break his jaw if it went any wider, Toriel feeling a pang of sympathy after the shiver of slight fear as just like any Murder Bitty she had ever heard of, he was eager for connection outside of himself- Murders never really connected with other Sans' bitties like they could with literally anyone else- and her being one to provide him the connection made him a little... territorial.  
Pun could be intended.  
" Well it certainly is interesting Murder." She chuckled softly when the door opened to the Owner's room, Toriel immediately standing and brushing at her dress, waiting until the Owner was close enough to call out to them.  
" Excuse me!" She called, the Owner looking to her in acknowledgement as she gestured for them to come over, Murder snorting from his place still on the ground as he watched her before the owner offered their hand to her and she jumped on, Murder immediately teleporting to be on their hand as well, grinning lazily to Owner when they shot him a small look that said they did not offer their hand to him, but then they merely turned the attention back to Toriel.  
" What is it?"  
" Hello there, um, I was wondering if it was possible to get supplies to make something for Horror."  
" Horror, why?"  
" Because I broke his axe and I want to-"  
The Owner started to laugh, the small goat monster feeling her stomach constrict, feeling sick that they thought this was funny.  
" You really do seem to belong in this place, never thought that you would do something like that, thought you were too soft a bitty." Owner wheezed through the laughter which jostled Toriel to sitting as she looked to Murder, whom was giggling as well as he lounged on his side, obviously going to be no help as Toriel felt her stomach twist a little more that the Owner thought that she did something bad enough that she belongs in a place like this, they didn't even know the context of anything that happened or what she did afterwards! She tried to push herself up as they steadied, trying to calm down.  
" I own up to my mistakes. Now please... I want to do something in apology." She murmured clearly.  
Their laughter then disappeared entirely as it all sunk in, their grin falling away, " I guess doing something bad does not equal an evil bitty." They grumbled slightly before looking to her, irritated, " Well what do you want?"  
" I want cloth."  
" Why cloth? Oh please do not tell me that you are planning on giving him that sissy toy plushie again are you?"  
" It was wrong of you to take that from him." Toriel scolded as she steadied her stance on their palm, vouching for the plushie for how much safer it was compared to everything else, " He needed it and you just took it from him!"  
" Well he made do, didn't he?"  
" That doesn't excuse what you did! Not only that but you keep him on a schedule instead of letting him snack like a Horror Bitty should!"  
Immediately the owner's hand caved, their fingers clamping on her, not hard, just keeping her pinned as Murder made a small sound in alarm from the suddenness of the movement.  
" You need to shut up. Nothing is better than a hungry Horror, they are in their natural state that way, they are meant to be starved, not treated like a Classic. Just to prove my point, no Breakfast, how does that sound?"  
Then they let her go, uncaring what would happen, despite holding the two over the limit a bitty could safely fall as they turned away, Murder locking on Tori while they fell as she closed her eyes, feeling the world twist and her stomach lurch with it before they landed on the table, knowing that she certainly would have missed if she was alone. 

There was a silence as the two laid there, holding each other, soaking in the situation before Toriel sat up and looked down to Murder.  
" I am sorry."  
" it's fine." He pulled away from her as he sat back, " you really like shovels don't ya? just keep digging yourself in deeper with that horror situation. this continues on and he's gonna hunt you down and someone's getting dusted." Murder hummed, " which is gonna be him if we're all honest here." He chuckled as Toriel stood then and brushed at herself again.  
" Not if I can help it." She murmured in confidence as she then tugged Murder up again by the back of his collar, setting him on his feet as she then marched to the front the actual home they were all in, hopping down on the lone chair and then down to the ground, Murder following closely behind as Toriel got to the couch which was propped before a curtained window.  
" Please help me up Murder." Murder nodded and with a _ping!_ her soul turned blue and she was up on the top of the couch, finding an opening in the curtains and slipping through, Murder blinking his eyesockets before teleporting where she once was and slipping in after her, wincing as sunlight hit them full blast thanks to the morning sun as he found Toriel pressed against the glass, squinting as she looked around.  
The house was in the middle of a slight neighborhood, the house a little pushed back from everyone else's homes in a way that Toriel knew probably instantly attracted their Owner before spotting that the house on the left had a garden present, a large and rich garden as Toriel looked to Murder before pointing to the garden.  
" We are going there."  
" never pictured you as a thief tori." Murder chuckled slightly  
Toriel waved a hand as if to disperse the bad thought, " No, I am no thief, but I can no longer trust our Owner to be a good person on this matter, so we have to take it with someone else."  
" guess that makes sense. are we goin' to tell the others?"  
" Are they going to tell the Owner?"  
" well, i just think we shouldn't 'cause i think horror's gonna be pissed when he finds out we lost him breakfast, so it's best we don't tell the info to his face, things would get a little _crazy_. come on, if we're doin' this we better do this fast." Murder then grabbed Toriel, looking over the yard before there as he sighed, " close your eyes." She did so and she felt the twist again before she landed in soft and overgrown grass. 

Pushing herself up yet again, she took in the fact that they were right on the border between their yard and the garden.  
" Mur- Oh my Stars!" Toriel gasped in shock as Murder was still face planted in the ground, limp and nearly lifeless, the only thing signaling he wasn't about to dust was the fact that he then lifted right arm and gave a thumb's up.  
" Are you okay?" She asked as she picked him up.  
" mhmm, teleportin' takes a lotta energy an' i haven't eaten since dinner last night, or slept at all, along with all the magic 've been doin' in the meantime." He chuckled before rolling his head against her chest and giving a slight sigh, " this ain't a bad place to dust though."  
" Don't be so dramatic, We're getting you something to eat!" She assured him as he chuckled, a little shaken with that as she walked with him into the garden, seeing no humans in it, so they would have to nab the smallest thing they could to feed to Murder as she moved around, looking for something suitable as she found that every fruit and vegetable in season were present, from grapes and beets to Onions and Raspberries, the trees in the back of the house bearing the fruits of apples, lemons, limes and... pineapples and mangos? The heck? They were no where near a tropical climate.  
"... Hello." Toriel jolted and whirled around, seeing a Gaster Bitty in the garden, the bitty jolting as well before melting back.  
" Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I promise." Toriel murmured quickly when she realized it was a G-ster bitty, also known as a Classic Gaster, a bitty known for hiding, having nervous tendencies and listening more than talking, " You just scared me a little, it's fine."  
" heh, a bit _jumpy_ are we?" Murder chuckled in her arms to remind her he was still there as he stared at the Gaster's lack of legs.  
" Hush you. I'm sorry we frightened you, is this your garden?" She asked as the G-ster bitty shook his head, his stark white hands against the black goo of his body twisting in a slightly nervous habit.  
" No... This garden is Deme's."  
" Is that your owner?"  
" No..." He then melted away almost, motioning for Toriel to stay where she was as she nodded and stayed there patiently.   
Murder trembled slightly in her arms from the weakness as she looked to him and held him a little tighter before looking up at footsteps and found the G-ster bitty was leading a Demetoriel, it all suddenly making so much sense that all kinds of foods were present even in the wrong climate when a Goddess of Life Bitty was there to help them all grow. 

She carried herself with an unearthly grace all ethereal bitties carried, an aura around her of elegance and care as she wore a gorgeous pale green dress, a deep velvet green sash around her waist with a beautiful white bow on her right hip looking like a butterfly with the way it was tied to perfection, vines of deeper green crawling up her skirt with flecks of gold and white sparking on the skirt, the skirt having slits that went up to the sash, showing a gorgeous pleated dress, the neckline of the dress glossy and gold as it hugged her around the shoulders, showing off her shoulders, the sleeves it had open with a sash of gold matching the neckline was also around her shoulders, floating back slightly around her as she stopped before the two, her dark eyes fixed on the two cautiously, but warmly otherwise.  
" Hello there, what brings you to my garden?" She asked with a polite smile.  
Toriel took a moment to compose herself from the glow of the ethereal bitty before speaking, " My friend is weak, he hasn't had anything to eat, we were coming here to ask you for permission to use your garden as a food source because our Owner..." Her teeth nearly clicked as her jaw shut, noticing then that the G-ster was hiding behind a Classic Grillby Bitty, showing there were three bitties in the household in total, at least the ones willing to come out and greet them anyways.  
Seeing her silence Murder spoke for her, " they're a complete and total fuck."  
The Grillby bitty already covered the Gaster bitty's ears by the time he cursed, Deme ignored Murder's cursing and merely focused on the part where others were not being fed.  
" I see. So you want us to be a constant supply?"  
" That would be ideal, we have a Horror bitty and he wants to constantly snack, but the owner won't let him." Toriel confessed.  
" What an awful creature. Of course you are allowed to come into my garden, I overproduce too much as it is." Deme asserted with a nod.  
" Thank you." Toriel bowed her head in thanks deeply before they heard munching and looked to see Killer and Nightmare already digging into Bell Peppers as they looked up when they saw they were being watched.  
" what? we were bored, of course we were going to follow you." Nightmare spoke and rolled his one visible eyelight before going back to crunching.   
Murder sighed, Toriel merely shaking her head with a small chuckle and taking him to eat some grapes while the Grillby took the Gaster inside so they didn't need to encounter the other bitties, Deme staying out and keeping a watch on the others while selecting some of the best foods for them to take with them, wanting to feed the Horror Bitty in her concern, seeing as he was not there as the others had their breakfast.


	5. Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror finds out about his new food supplier and goes to make sure that he could really have everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mentions of a killed animal because Horror becomes what he is named after when he is hungry.

Soon they made their way to the house, all three boys carrying the heavy package with their magic, as it made more sense to do that rather than to walk to the house and carry it after them, floating along before Nightmare lashed out a tentacle to get the doorknob, letting them in, however when Toriel thought that they would drop the box immediately, they actually carried it into the bitty room and dropped it down in front of Horror's house.  
Toriel looked to all three of them warmly and with a semblance of pride, Nightmare giving a small twitch, " well it's for him, isn't it?" Nightmare snapped at her, " and if we put it anywhere else the Owner will see it and take it away."  
Toriel then smiled openly to him, happy, " Thank you boys."  
Nightmare looked away from her as the goo on his face became more fluid and drippy with his embarrassment, " whatever, you're welcome."  
He then hopped off the box, Killer staring at her before following his best friend, Murder standing and stretching from where he was sitting, popping a few of his bones seeing as that was essentially all he was.  
" what's goin' on?"  
Toriel jolted and looked to see Horror in the doorway, absolutely covered in blood, splattered at his shorts, his shirt smeared a deep crimson, freckling his bone white legs, his furry collar and even a smudge being on his cheekbones as Toriel covered her mouth at the sight.  
" what? i was hungry. you helped none, i would rip out your guts right now before murder dusts me, but.... you obviously brought somethin' for me seein' as it is set in front of my house. what is it?"  
Toriel brushed off the terrifying comment he made in exchange of smiling at him and offering him a hand, Murder immediately turning Horror's soul blue instead and launching him up into the mass of food, not wanting anything to happen to Toriel if Horror decided to bite the hand that was about to feed him.  
Horror's one eyelight widened and sparkled staring down at all the fruits and vegetables, any food amazing food as he immediately sunk his teeth into a fig that he was closest to, growling with happiness before looking to Toriel in a curiosity of where she got this, not pulling the food away.  
" The house next door has a garden, it's now a place for us to go for extra food, though it's more for you than anyone else."  
He paused as he finished up his fig, licking away the juices running down his chin, " a place for me? that provides food?"  
Toriel nodded.  
" i want to go there." His response was immediate, his unblinking eyelight staring straight at her.  
" alright buddy." Murder shrugged and nodded from his place with his hands lazily in his pockets again, Toriel looking to him in slight concern before nodding.   
Deme looked like a bitty who could handle her own against Horror, and Horror needed to establish to himself he really did have a place where he could go and snack as Murder motioned for Horror to follow him and hopped off the box, walking ahead to take a little shortcut together while Toriel scrambled after to see if she was able to watch through the window, even though it was unlikely at the house's distance from the garden and the size of the bitties in comparison, Toriel wondering if Deme would be able to handle Horror covered in blood seeing how much they valued life.

" welp, here we are." Murder gestured to the garden while standing at the very border between the properties.   
Horror stared at all the food that was just ripe for the taking before looking to Murder and back to the scene, walking in while Murder waited behind, watching with frosty blue and blood red eyes as Horror ran his phalanges over some of the ingredients while he looked around, the near afternoon sunlight casting the garden in a bright and cheery atmosphere as Murder then noticed the Demetoriel stepping from the side, her eyes fixed on Horror before the hole-headed bitty noticed she was even there, whirling and looking to the owner of the garden, whom looked just as ethereal as when Murder and Toriel initially came to visit a couple of hours ago, a patient look on her face as she looked to him with a small smile, deciding to speak first.  
" Hello. I am Deme, and welcome to my garden, Horror. You are always welcome."  
There was a silence as Murder knew she hit the nail right on the head right off the bat, Horror flushing a bright red as he shoved his right hand in his pocket and his left one came up and nervously messed with the crack in his skull, tracing over the back parts of the gaping wound as his eyelight cast to the side and his flushed a deep red.  
" thanks..." He murmured as Murder noticed him shifting his jacket a little to cover the gore smearing his front before he made his way over to her, " ya don't know how much i appreciate this."  
" Well you are always welcome." She chuckled slightly before offering him her paw as he stared at it in bewilderment, " Come, I will show you around and you can bite into whatever you want."  
She obviously seemed like a woman after Horror's heart as Horror skittered to her side, her not even hesitating when he joined her side as Murder knew that with all she said and did she was going to be fine with Horror and there was no threat to him tearing out her neck, turning and heading back to the house immediately to rejoin with Toriel- not wanting to leave her alone for long even if it did seem like Nightmare was warming up to her, Killer was still a problem.

He appeared inside the home, making his way around before finding her in his beanbag chair, quiet as she ran a needle along grey fabric.  
" where'd you get that?"  
" When you were strong enough to stand I asked Deme if I may have some cloth and she said I could." Toriel looked to Murder with sparkling eyes, " I hope he will accept this."  
" sure he will, this is probably more than above and beyond what he was thinking anyone would do for him." Murder shrugged with a grin before going and taking a seat beside the chair seeing as there were no other seats.  
" Do you know if there is any way to become friends with the others?" She asked, not looking away from her stitching.  
" dunno, befriend nightmare which helps you befriend killer, but i don't exactly know how you could lure in nightmare for friendship other than just weathering the storm."  
" I will keep that in mind, Murder. Is there anything that he likes that you know of?"  
" i don't stalk the guy, i honestly don't know. will you ever pay this much attention to me at any point?" He asked with a grinning pout, " 'cause i gotta ad- _knit_ I am a little envious."  
Toriel looked to him in surprise before giggling, " Don't be, my friend, thank you for helping as much as you do, you'll see this will be worth it." She beamed to him then before going back to sewing to try and make Horror his Axe plushie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I commissioned a drawing for the fic and here it is!  
> https://dotchi13.tumblr.com/post/180283566417/alright-so-i-made-a-fic-with-toriel-and-all-the
> 
> It's on my tumblr and it's Horror and Deme meeting for the first time as drawn by renrink, the actual creator of Reapertale!Toriel, I hope you all check it out, they did an amazing job!
> 
> Please leave a kudos or a Comment if you like this story~


	6. A Holiday Everyone Can Get Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror finds out about a new Holiday from Deme while in her Garden one day, Thanksgiving, and she invites everyone with permission from her own Owner.  
> This may just be the happiest he has ever been in his life, and it only gets better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toriel was given to the Owner just in time for Holiday Season, which is why she can't be returned because of the chaos of the holidays and the marketability of bitties, so of course we were going to put forward the Holidays she has to be a part of.  
> And because I am American as all Hell Thanksgiving is going to be the Holiday, especially because, you know... That's Horror's freaking Holiday. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Five days passed since Horror had been allowed into Deme's garden, allowed to eat what he wanted, and visit at any time.   
And whenever he was there Deme was always there, the ethereal figure always hanging around whenever he came and if she wasn't there during his midnight snacks, she would always _appear_ by the time he sunk his teeth into his chosen food.   
She would talk to him about things, asking him about his Owner and the other Bitties he lived with, and even exchanged food jokes with him, it was kind of a big _dill_ to him.  
One evening, he was tearing into Mushrooms with small audible rips as he noticed Deme was harvesting, something she had never done before while he was present as he looked around, his eye was caught by the flame of the Grillby bitty, whom was holding a basket himself with the G-ster bitty putting food in their basket.  
" somethin' goin' on?" He murmured through his bites.  
" Yes, we are gathering supplies for Thanksgiving Tomorrow, so there's _polenta_ to go around!" She beamed to him before ripping an ear of corn off as the stalk had been cut down earlier for all to be taken.  
" what's thanksgiving?" He asked after swallowing as Deme looked to him, bewildered for a moment before it transitioned into being a little pained, gripping her basket tightly to herself.  
" Wait a Moment Horror." She then made a motion to him, setting down her basket and leaving with an eye-catching swish of her skirts, making his eyelight stay on her until she disappeared and he looked back to the new mushroom in his grip, going back to eating as he wondered if he had done something wrong asking that question.  
Was it some kind of important event for deity bitties?  
He stopped biting into his mushroom.  
What if... What if she was so offended she was going to ban him from her garden?  
He had only been there for about a week, this was only just the beginning, he didn't want to leave...   
And for the first time in his whole life... Horror didn't feel too hungry.  
However the part of him that was bred to have barely any self control around food allowed him to continue eating as he finished up, only for Deme to appear again, striding to him before joining him.  
" Horror, I will explain to you what Thanksgiving is, and know that our Guardian has allowed you and the others from your house to come over for it, alright?" She asked, facing him seriously.  
" alright..." Horror blinked to her, his right hand going to his darkened socket, hooking his fingers into it as Deme looked to his hand worriedly before his visible glowing red eye, knowing he was anxious as his hands twitched, obviously having nothing to bring him comfort.  
" Well it's rooted in Human History and that was different at the time... but I will not get into it seeing how anxious you are."  
" you think i'm anxious, you _butter_ believe you haven't seen anything yet." He cracked a weak pun, but it signaled to her he was still fine to a degree as she nodded.  
" Well, it is a day where family and friends gather together around a large meal and give thanks for all that they have in life and spend time together."  
His one glowing eyelight went dark.  
" so... you're saying that... essentially this 'Thanksgiving' is just one big feast?"  
" Even by human's standards, but because our human will not be present and instead with their family, Flames, Void and I are going to host our own and you are welcome."  
The silence drew out before Horror's eye flashed again, wrenching his hand out of his socket, wrapping his hands around her arms, grinning in a way that looked like it came straight out of a nightmare, considering how still covered in blood he was with the exception of his bones, " about _thyme_ I found a holiday made just for me. thanks tori. i don't really like the others, but i know ya _dew_ , so i'll invite them for ya."  
" I would appreciate that very much Horror." She smiled to him warmly, not even flinching despite how frightening he looked, she was a mini goddess, she had nothing to fear.   
As such, her lack of fear made Horror grin wider as he released her, nodding in approval before he then turned and left the area to go back home and contact the others. 

Thanks to the help of Murder, Toriel had the axe plushie she had finished wrapped in torn newspaper and a bit of ribbon from the spool Murder had as a table, the ribbon being a yellowgreen color as it was the best she could do as she held it out with stars in her eyes.  
" _sew_ you did it. congrats." Murder grinned lazily to her as Toriel turned to him, hugging the package to her chest as she smiled widely.   
" Thank you Murder, you helped a lot."  
Murder felt his cheekbones flush purple from the mix of red and blue magic, " didn't do much."  
" Without you there wouldn't be a present." Toriel asserted to him as she then went to him and pulled him into a hug, " Thank you."  
His arms flailed awkwardly as despite being picked up and carried by her he had never really had an actual _hug_ before, being picked up the closest thing he had ever went through as in the corner of his view while staring past her shoulder was the red scarf-bow she still wore as he then hesitantly reached up, his phalanges just touching her back when there was a hammering on the door.  
Toriel pulled away as Murder retracted into himself, Tori putting the wrapped up present on the table before she opened the house, finding Horror there as he looked more excited than they had ever seen him before.  
" food dropper, did you know of this 'thanksgiving'?" Well it was nice that helping set up a connection with Deme made Horror like Toriel the point he seemed content to only call her food dropper as she nodded.  
" Why yes... Is it soon?"  
" it's tomorrow, food dropper, and deme wants you all to come."  
" Oh! Well thank you for telling me Horror, does Nightmare and Killer know?"  
" think that would be a good idea with such a jumpy gaster bitty and a protective grillby bitty in the same vicinity?" Murder asked, appearing beside her as Toriel looked to him.  
" Maybe not, but it is important to ask and if worst comes to worst we will handle it."  
" heh, i think you'll mean i'll handle it." Murder shook his head as Horror shrugged, leaving to Nightmare and Killer's house, " by the way tori..."  
" Yes Murder?"  
" what's thanksgiving?" 

Toriel found herself telling the history of Thanksgiving to all four boys as when she brought it up to the three of them, they confessed they knew nothing of the Holiday other than what Horror had told them: There was going to be a lot of food.  
When she was finished the four of them sat there.  
" so... what you are saying is... it is essentially a thanks for harvest by humans in a certain area in the form of a banquet?" Nightmare inclined his head to her.  
Toriel nodded.  
" well how boring, i thought there was going to be violence." Killer muttered while still having his fixed grin.  
Toriel refrained from speaking of any kind of carnage that did happen on that day and Horror merely spoke up, " do you not want to come? more for me then."  
" of course i am going _numbskull_." Killer grinned wider to him before Toriel stepped in between the two again, happy they were a distance apart and were not showing off their weapons, even if Killer was the only one that had a weapon on him this time.  
" No fighting you two." She shook her head, " Now I know this is a lot to ask you... but could you all try and dress up for this event?"  
" With what? The washer is still broken." Nightmare blanched as Toriel looked to him before offering her palms for their clothes.  
" I could wash them for you."  
" No." Killer immediately raised a hand and shook his head, " I'm not that interested in dressing up."  
" shame, when the clothes come back to you they're warm and fluffy like a hug." Murder hummed with a small smile before he shrugged, only for Toriel to look at Horror, seeing him pulling off his coat before he walked to her, flushed as he scowled.  
" don't think deme would appreciate me covered in blood for the event... _peas_ handle it, food dropper..." He slammed the jacket into her arms as Toriel held it close, not minding that he had barely slipped out of saying an actual please to her.  
" I am sure she will appreciate that Horror."  
" though i think she would appreciate if it was all of your clothes." Murder pointed out as he leaned against one of the multiple shoeboxes that made Killer's home.  
" if ya think i'm strippin' in front of you guys ya must have suffered worse brain damage than I have." Horror glared at him as Killer and Nightmare snickered, Toriel looking to them as she made her way to the ladder.  
" So are you two coming?"  
" sure. something new to spice things up." Nightmare shrugged as Murder and Horror left their places to follow her.  
" with what, blood or cumin?" Killer then asked his best friend with a grin before the two burst out laughing, and Toriel knew she would have to keep an eye out for those two the next day before she scaled the ladder to help out Horror, and when she hit the bottom she already made the decision to give Horror his plushie at the event, hopefully to reconcile completely.

The next day Toriel made sure Murder and Horror were all cleaned up and ready to go, having pressed up one of her dresses and even the scarf, having it tied back into perfection before going to check on Owner, only to find a note on the table with the help of Murder.  
_So I was invited to an event... Bye._  
There was no mention of it being Thanksgiving, or that they even had a food plan for them.  
Toriel found herself actually giving a small curse and with a bit of effort she crumpled up the paper and set it on fire with her magic.  
" looking a little _hot-handed_ there tori." Murder chuckled from the sidelines while he held the plushie package in her stead.  
" I just don't understand why they even bothered to get bitties when they are just going to do this." Toriel murmured.  
" same could be said of owners who get cats or dogs only to neglect them or worse. it happens." Murder offered one of his hands in a 'what could be done about it?' gesture, " let's head on over."  
" I suppose..." Toriel nodded and Murder handed her the package before turning her soul Blue, putting her down on the ground as Horror approached, all squeaky clean since last night, Toriel having put her all in removing the blood stains and everything to the point she had to use a bit of magic for it, Killer and Nightmare not far away from Horror as with some effort all were out of the house and approaching the garden, Deme waiting for them at the edge with a smile.  
She wore a beige-colored dress that was an off color from her fur, it flowing around her dreamily as the straps for the dress were pinched by shining green broches that matched with the sash around her waist, it being tied up neatly in a knot as she waved to them, smiling a little wider when she saw Horror and the effort he had obviously put forward.  
" My friend, you seemed to have really cleaned yourself up for this."  
He grinned to her as he joined her side, " no kiddin' Deme, haven't been all cleaned up like this in a long time."  
" Well considering your eating habits you won't be clean much longer with what's coming." Her smile turned into a grin matching his.  
" it look like i mind?" Horror stuff his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels, looking pretty content from where he was before Nightmare made a kissy noise, Horror's eyelight snapping towards his and his smile freezing as he motioned that Nightmare should shut his mouth before making a head-cutting motion, the black tarred bitty merely snickering with Killer, Murder stepping in their lines of sight with Toriel. 

" How about we head inside?" Toriel offered as she held the package to the side.   
Deme nodded with a slight flush under her fur as she turned, gesturing them to follow as they found themselves approaching a small door under the large window that looked over the garden, it being just the size for bitties, and when she opened it the smell of delicious foods enticed them all inside, coaxing them as even Killer and Nightmare were completely silent and enraptured as they found themselves in a room just for bitties like they had, only this room was vastly different.   
The G-ster bitty Void had made elevators for him and Deme's houses that were up on platforms while Flames had a home in the brick fireplace, Void's place looking extremely cramped and cluttered, perfect for their habit of hiding and squeezing into small spaces as Deme's place was covered in vines and plant life, flowers gloriously blooming in many various colors, her home open to everyone yet secure as beside the fireplace next to the human-sized door was a kitchen and dining area the size of the bitties where the smell of food was emanating from as immediately their eyes took in the small turkey five times their size, golden in color and cooling beside the table on a large plate.  
" We were sure you were coming in early, so we slept a little before starting early on cooking, Flames and I." Deme smiled, pleased as Flames was indeed there, dressed up in a sweater-vest, dresspants and a long-sleeved white shirt underneath, standing with Void who actually had a little bowtie in his mass of black goop.   
The table heavy with food, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, stuffing, deviled eggs, cut celery with dipping, cranberry sauce, mushroom soup, containers with sparkling cider, wine and water as everyone gaped at it, Horror gripping the edges of his jacket with such a tight grip that if he had flesh he would have gone white-knuckled from the sheer pressure, drool of black dripping out from between his teeth before Deme chuckled and gently pushed him forward to give him a seat, piling food onto her friend's plate while the others registered. Toriel immediately racing forward when she spotted actual _silverware_ , Murder hot on her heels as soon everyone was sitting, Deme at the head of the table, on her right side Flames and then Void, across the table having Toriel on the other end, and beside Deme was Horror not holding back on anything while beside him was Nightmare, then Killer, and beside Killer was Murder to keep him in check.  
" Is there anything you all are thankful for?" Deme asked with her fingers weaved together, not having touched her food.  
" food." Horror murmured through his bites.  
" Being here for the Holiday with new friends and allies... And of course Silverware." Toriel giggled as she showed her fork and spoon, " It's so _fork_ -unate you have it." She chuckled with Deme and Murder  
" gifts." Murder then stated as he looked to the bow around Toriel's neck with a grin.  
Flames crackled and snapped, Void nodding to the fire bitty in agreement before looking to his own food.  
" I am grateful for science." Void confessed as Flames toasted him before sipping on what seemed to be lighter fluid.  
" that sleep exists or i wouldn't be here." Nightmare grinned as he would have winked if he had use of his right eye.  
" i'm greatful for knives-" Killer then picked up the container of water, Toriel noticing then how quickly the hate was flowing out of his sockets and how his target-like soul was now going crazy as everything seemed to be going too fast for her, " and water." He then threw it at Flames, there being only a second while it was going through the air before-  
_Splash!_  
_Thud!_

Flames was on the ground, his chair having tipped back with him, but he wasn't doused and in pain, instead the one soaking wet was Horror, his eyesockets closed for a moment and his body drenched as he had thrown himself across the table, shielding Flames from the torture, now sitting in the Celery and dipping tray as he chuckled and ran his hand over his skull, wiping away most of it before opening his eye, his red eyelight bright and taking up his whole socket.  
" heh, buddy... if ya like water so much, ya shouldn't be throwing it out like it's nothin' to ya." Horror then immediately launched himself at Killer, producing one of the cutting knives as Killer's eyesockets widened, pulling out his Mirror shard before Horror slashed his knife, showing it was stronger than the shard by shattering the piece of mirror into smaller pieces as Killer was tackled out of his own chair to the ground, Horror embedding the knife right beside Killer's neck vertebrae while his hand wrapped around it.  
" Horror!" Toriel stood with Murder, Nightmare's eye staring to pulse more with magic.  
" you are not ruining this for me Killer, you're just not gonna." Horror murmured to him, " if ya do, i'll dust ya, i promise you, even if it kills me in the process."  
" Horror."  
He froze and looked to see Deme standing as she looked grave, " Let him go."  
He stared at her before looking back to Killer, there being a bit of silence before he wrenched the knife out from beside Killer's neck, the silence pervading before Void stood, having checked up on Flames as he helped him up with his disembodied hands.  
" ……………… Thank you Horror." Flames then spoke as everyone looked to him.  
" yeah, no prob." Horror murmured as he set the knife down on the table, Deme going to him and scolding him before going and scolding Killer while Nightmare pulled the bitty onto his feet with his tentacles while Killer was still dazed, Murder watching what had happened and how everyone was acting now as he started to giggle, giving that snort and laughing like a madman.  
" the hell is it murder?" Nightmare asked, agitated.  
" AHAHAHAHAHAHA! we're actually acting like a family, it's crazy!" Murder answered through laughing.  
Toriel didn't know how much she liked the idea of family being equated with death threats and violence, but she supposed with everything calming down and going back to a semblance of normal that was how it looked like.  
" I suppose..."  
" it's so funny, hehehehehe." Murder chuckled behind his hand as Deme shook her head at him, soon everything falling back into place after Horror cleaned up his pants from sitting in the dip while defending the Grillby bitty. 

Somewhere along the day long dinner Void had gone to a radio and turned on music, it being a nice little backdrop to everything as if there ever was a lull and it had something for them to listen to when getting up and doing something as by the time everything was dark it was somehow agreed that they were staying over, Deme shooting a look at Nightmare and Killer that said that she was going to make sure that they didn't mess with anyone while they were sleeping, everyone agreed to staying at her place while Flames and Void were allowed to isolate themselves as they needed, and when dinner was finally cleaned up, Toriel went to go and see Horror while clutching the package that she had hidden under her chair the whole time, going to the other bitty.  
" Horror."  
" food dropper. came to see me?"  
" Yes, and give something to you."  
" give something... to me?" He asked, confused as he pointed to himself before Toriel smiled and nodded, presenting the gift to him as he took it hesitantly before tearing it open, staring at the plushie now in his hands as it was almost just like an axe, the handle stuffed to the point it was firm enough to hold onto without the axe going lopsided, the blade stuffed in a comfortable way kind of like a pillow.  
The way he looked at it was like looking at something nostalgic, something you used to have but something happened to it and now it was back as he held it to him, there being a silence before he looked to her.  
" how did you know?"  
" Murder told me."  
" he did?" Horror sounded surprised, like he didn't believe Murder actually noticed before chuckling, " bastard."  
His words however had no bite as Murder chuckled, approaching them, " you know it."  
There was a small silence before Horror looked to her like she had a fresh slate again, or even better, that he had a good opnion of her.  
" thanks... tori."  
" You're welcome Horror." She beamed to him, happiness flooding her from the other bitty actually addressing her by name even if he shortened it, before he nodded to her and turned with the plushie tight in his hold, going to go and find Deme while she was setting up spots for them to sleep.  
" so how do you feel?" Murder asked while looking to her.  
" Good. Like I righted a wrong, which in my opinion is one of the best feelings in the world." She affirmed with a smile as Murder looked to her before shrugging, his eyesockets closed, feeling like he knew even better feelings, but not voicing it.  
" i guess it might be."  
Toriel gave a small yawn and stretched.  
" ready for bed?"  
" Mhmm...."  
" then let's head on out, hopefully deme was right sayin' she could handle nightmare and we can actually get some decent sleep for once."  
He murmured as they walked for Deme's place together.


	7. Suddenly, Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror and Deme have a conversation as Murder and Toriel settle in for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thirsting for a little romance this chapter while it transitions since the next chapter will focus more on Killer and Nightmare than the others, so I'm just putting this here, hope you all enjoy!

Deme hummed as she set up beds for the night.  
And beds meaning flowers that would wrap around them like a makeshift bubble of comfort just like her own bed which was actually a Lily, Death's flower.  
She thought through every flower for them and made them bloom one by one carefully to hold each of the visiting bitties as Horror approached, eyeing Nightmare and Killer as they were not too far away, Deme having made it clear to the two homoicidal bitties that if they left the platform to go and bother Flames or Void they would be tossed out to go home, Nightmare muttering she was no fun before doing as she asked with Killer following suit.  
He made his way over with his hand gripping the handle of his plushie axe tightly.  
" Did you enjoy yourself Horror?" She asked, not looking at him while her magic glowed green and gold while carefully cultivating a special flower to bloom before her watchful eyes.  
" yeah, was a good holiday."  
" Good, Good, I know there was a little hiccup considering Killer and Flames, but I really wanted you to enjoy this Holiday and..." She then pulled away from her task and turned to him, " You have no idea how much I appreciate you protecting someone that was like a brother to me."  
" 's nothing. i knew if i let anything happen to him you would have thrown us out, and- heh, i'm not saying goodbye to a food source so easily." He shrugged with his empty eyesocket closed in a wink while he placed his axe on his shoulder, " would leave me all _hollow_ inside."  
Deme giggled softly before nodding to him, " I understand. Will you be snacking tonight?"  
" i'll sleep on it." He grinned in tease as she was unable to hold back onto laugh, covering her mouth with her paw before waving at him with another for him to cut it out as he rocked on his heels again contentedly, savoring her laugh like he would food being crushed by his teeth.  
" Alright, well, I made something for you, here." She turned back to the very flower she had been working on, showing him an enormous blood red chrysanthemum with many petals blooming outwards from a hollow middle for him to rest in, " This is yours."  
" well i ain't one to _flower_ from an offer of yours." Horror shrugged before pushing himself up onto it as the petals gave way to his hands, but rolled him safely into the middle of the flower where it was soft, it molding slightly to him and his body, as if craving for him to sleep there, but he pushed away the offer to sit up as he held his plushie tight to him, staring to Deme as she looked to him in slight concern, obviously thinking about something.  
" Do you not like it Horror?"  
" nah, not that... in fact i think this is gonna be the best sleep i had since i arrived at the house... but..." He then sighed slightly as if in defeat, dropping the plushie and grabbing her by the hands, tugging her into the chrysanthemum as it sucked her up with no problem as she squeaked in shock by the strength of the other bitty pulling her in.  
The weight from the two caused the petals to clamp around them, trapping them in a little bubble together as Horror and Deme stared at one another, the silence thick inside the flower as his hands still held hers, the grip only getting tighter with his anxiety as his face flushed with more and more red magic, but never once looking like he was going to back down as the flower softly glowed around them to illuminate the insides. 

" alright, look. i ain't one to beat around the bush, especially when it's with somethin' i like, learned that livin' with the bastards outside, you grab what ya want and you protect it." Horror affirmed as he squeezed Deme's paws, " i like ya deme. a lot. an' I wanna start courting you. not just that but doin' it the way you deserve, 'cause man... you are one classy lady deme, an' ya don't have to like me back if ya don't want, i understand i gotta pretty ugly mug, and we haven't known each other long, but 'm takin' this chance 'cause damn... only thing as worthwhile spendin' time with my food supplier and best friend is actually eatin'."  
Deme was flushed in surprise as she stared back to him with wide eyes before giving a small giggle as her eyes became glassy, " Goodness... You would think that something like this would be happening in later chapters..."  
" 'm not one for unnecessary drama and pining like the others might be." Horror rolled his eyelight at the thought of some of the others as Deme giggled and nodded, understanding as a warm look crossed her face as she continued to blush, squeezing back on his hands as he realized he was still holding her hands and turned bright red again.  
" I appreciate that Horror. You know..." She then grinned, " You offered in a way I _carrot_ refuse, I would feel the _wurst_ if I lied to myself about my _peel_ ings and refused you. In the short time we have _bean_ together you have _cracked me up_ so many times, I couldn't imagine someone _butter_ to be with... So yes Horror, I would love for us to court one another."  
Every food pun hit him right in the soul as he gripped her hands tightly and leaned against her as if she would give him stabilization, his head on her shoulder as she laughed, not minding him being so affectionate even if literally anyone else that had him this close would have a very real fear of him going for the throat.  
Horror's very soul pulsed and beat in relief and affection for the goddess bitty, his magic brightening in light as it sent off pulses that radiated in the small space of the flower, and soon hers answered the call as her muzzle nuzzled the side of his skull absent of the bash as they basked in the humming of their souls, Deme holding him until he fell asleep as she looked to him in affection before she had to leave to see to the others, gently handling him and his plushie to him before she left the flower, it only opening enough for her to pull through before closing comfortingly around Horror to let him continue sleeping. 

As Deme landed on the ground, she realized then with a spike of terror that she had forgotten about Nightmare and Killer.  
However the fear was quelled when she found Toriel and Murder already there and keeping a watchful eye on the two as they talked about the nearest holiday coming up, Christmas.  
" i was bought by owner on christmas, i know what the holiday is, it's not a real big deal." Kiler shrugged as he leaned back, Nightmare watching after him with one glowing blue eye as he seemed irritated.  
" Well, just in case I wouldn't mind if we celebrate it anyways." Toriel offered as Nightmare looked to her with an even more irate expression.  
" we don't have to celebrate it just because i haven't ever seen it before." Nightmare growled, Murder merely smirking.  
" she never said that, she just said it would be nice to celebrate the holiday anyways. you're pretty _transparent_ when it comes to something like this, arentcha?" Murder then dodged as a tentacle nearly speared him through, " so _touchy_!" Murder laughed as he ducked and whipped to the right, avoiding the tentacles that speared into the ground with a practiced grace, stepping over one as it aimed at Toriel, grabbing her hand and spinning her out of the way as one speared where her hip would have been.  
" Enough." Deme demanded as she stepped between the two, motioning to Nightmare as he pried his tentacles out of the ground, " Your places are ready."  
" i can't wait to see what you have planned for nightmare and i." Killer smirked at Deme, turning both turning their attention to her as she gestured for them to follow her and soon introduced them to their flowers, a white Peony and a yellow Carnation.  
Nightmare grimaced at the color yellow, " don't you have anything else for us?"  
" I can change the color but this is what you're getting."  
Killer merely shrugged and climbed into his peony as it then raveled around him, the last thing everyone seeing being his alarmed face as he tried to get out of the flower from the suddenness of it moving, only to hit a golden glowing barrier keeping him in before it closed up.  
Nightmare looked to her and with the snap of Deme's fingers the Carnation bent at the stock and scooped him up, almost looking like it was swallowing him as his tentacles slammed against the golden barrier as if to pop it, struggling before he eventually gave up and settled in as there was no real ill-intent from Deme while keeping him strictly contained, so it would be useless to fight when he was going to sleep at some point anyways and she was going to let him go when this was all over, falling to sleep as she then turned and looked to see Murder and Toriel watching her. 

" Come you two, I have something for the both of you." She then smiled to them and gestured for the two to follow her as the flowers for those two were closer to the window, open and facing the moonlight starting to come in, lighting up their way as Toriel was given a large daffodil to cocoon around her when the time came, and keep her safe while Murder had broad sunflower to climb into, both at the same height as one another, maybe the sunflower a little shorter considering how trumpet-like the daffodil was as it bent down for Toriel as she sat on the entrance like a seat as it rose then, cradling her like a seat for her to relax and watch the world outside of the window as Murder simply appeared onto the sunflower beside her, the platform wobbling only a little but otherwise staying strong as Deme waved goodnight to them before heading back to her home to arrange her flower beside Horror's.  
Toriel looked to Murder and he looked back to her as she smiled to him before looking out to the shining moon overhead, him not able to tear his eyes away as the light made her silky white fur shine and the bow scarf around her neck bleed a bright red as she hummed happily.  
" arentcha tired tori? you were yawning earlier."  
" Mmm, that I was, and I still want to sleep... But it's nice and peaceful here, and I do remember from that conversation with Nightmare and Killer that I have to think of gifts for everyone else..." She hummed as she settled in a little more to the Daffodil opening, her feet resting on the cupping petals below.  
" ya know they aren't gonna give you anything back, right?"  
" Did I say anything on getting anything back?" She smiled softly to him in amusement as he stared to her before tugging his hood a little more over his head.  
" no."  
" That's because you're not really supposed to expect anything from anyone on Christmas time, they are gifts, not to be expected but something to be pleasantly surprised with." She chuckled slightly, " Why are you staying up?"  
" not going to sleep until you do tori. someone's got to keep an eyesocket on ya or else who knows what kind of trouble you're going to get into." He chuckled as he sat cross-legged in the sunflower before tensing when he heard noise before relaxing when he noticed it was from Void's little house, sighing before music started to play, an accordian melting out a sweet little tune to be joined with chime and trumpet as Toriel hummed along with it.  
" know the song tori?" He asked as he looked to her, the music lulling for a second.  
" Yes, it's called 'La vie en Rose', meaning Life in Pink, it's about seeing life through rose-colored glasses, like..." She murmured softly as she looked back to the G-ster Void's home while the music swelled in ethereal tune, " when you are in love."  
Toriel didn't see Murder turn purple as he then tugged his hood over his face, " Oh." He merely muttered as he cursed at Void, his red and blue eyes sparking slightly with magic as Tori continued to hum along with the gorgeous song until it was over, Murder sending a bright glare to Void's home as if daring him to play another, but nothing came from it as Murder then sighed, hearing the small goat monster yawn again before she stood up on her seat before putting her feet in first, sliding into the flower.  
" I'm heading to bed Murder, have a good night."  
" night tori." Murder answered as he watched her disappear into the daffodil, waiting a few minutes before allowing himself to lay back and look up at the moon shining down on him, waiting before he started to hum the song, going with the tune until the sunflower finally closed around him and sent him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter with the fourth-wall break and the romance, it's not going to be in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, if any of you want to know, here is why Deme was so focused on the flower types that she would be giving to them and the meanings she meant by them:  
> Carnation: Loyalty, Love (She didn't expect Horror to be so upfront so soon, she wanted it to be an early symbol to him of the torch she was carrying for him, it all just worked out better than expected)  
> Daffodil: Rebirth (She knows Toriel is changing with her environment even in small ways)  
> Sunflower: Adoration and Dedication (Like Murder isn't totally obvious)  
> Peony: Indignation (No freaking surprise that she doesn't like Killer now despite Horror saving Flames from Killer's attack. The amount Killer threw would not have killed Flames, but that would have been literal torture to the elemental and Deme is not appreciative)  
> Yellow Carnation: Disappointment (She is disappointed in Nightmare not being a better influence on Killer or at least not keeping a better hold on Killer's soul to keep it lacking in emotions, but she does not dislike him for it like she does Killer, after all Nightmare made no act to harm anyone, it was Killer who did it.)
> 
> Also, give me some Comments you Guys! I love it when you guys speak up and give me positive feedback or good story criticism, makes my heart feel warm :3


	8. Nightmare, Killer and Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter looking into the friendship of Nightmare and Killer and what it's like, along with speaking of Murder's past behavior and how differently he has changed since something other than a Sans Bitty came along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I will admit, I didn't expect to update so soon, but man, that comment from TopazShadowwolf got me thinking and stewing about everything until I was finally free to write about it, because you know, apparently stuff like comments, reviews and critiques just make me think about what next to do for that sweet sweet dopamine X)

It was the next day and all the bitties were back at home, their failure of an Owner apparently home as they could hear them sleeping in their room, apparently having come back very late at night and passed out almost immediately.  
Killer and Nightmare only wished that the owner had at least left the door open for them so they could do something fun, like cut at the tendons in their ankles or something like that.  
Lately nothing was really _fun_ anymore, at least to Killer.  
Sure some things were funny and they had a good time here and there, but the week they had went through since Toriel had first arrived seemed to move as slow as syrup to them, and carried none of the thrills that came before she had arrived, or at least that was how Killer saw it, seeing as Nightmare didn't feel much thrills by waking up with Murder standing over him trying to recover his knife from the tar of Nightmare's body after trying to stab him in his sleep.  
Killer and Nightmare were in their shared house after dinner, Killer's house specifically, Killer lounging on his bed while Nightmare was tossing a needle from one tentacle to another for something to play with, twirling it before catching it as they were winding down to bed.  
" i miss murder." Killer muttered as his skull was at the foot of his bed with his feet resting on the pillows, facing up as Nightmare looked from his tossing game to his friend.  
" i don't."  
" that's because there was never a real threat of you getting hurt." Killer answered. All sharp objects tended to never harm Nightmare, and merely get absorbed into his black tar of a body, which made him a good protector in some ways, in other ways if a Nightmare turned violent on other bitties there wasn't much they could do to defend themselves, seeing as he had many advantages over other bitties. 

" that and i'm not as hyped for him finding a way to kill us as you are." Nightmare rolled his eyelight as he remembered the countless mornings he awoke to taunting and insults from both Killer and Murder as they danced around each other trying to hurt one another or a few mornings where he had to chase off Murder and patch up Killer because Murder actually got the younger bitty with his knife or bones and Nightmare _had_ to step in or his only companion and the reason he was in this house would have been dusted.  
" i just think it's fun when we both try to kill each other, at least then he isn't rooted in his house wallowing in self loathing." Killer shrugged as both could recall countless times that Murder skipped meals just to stay in his home making disturbing drawings and talking to nobody, more specifically a nobody named Papyrus. At least a positive from Toriel showing up was he showed up every meal this time instead of taking his chances and doing creepy stuff like Murder's usually do, " it was boring when he decided to go into those states. i miss having a _mad_ time."  
" ugh, i don't understand why he had to say that almost every time you two started fighting." Nightmare shook his head and looked back to see he accidentally stabbed himself with the needle as his other tentacle wrapped around it and yanked it out before going back to what it was doing in tossing and catching.  
" 'cause he's crazy, get it?" Killer grinned to him as he tilted his head back to see his friend, Nightmare smirking slightly as that joke was obvious but it was nice to have a laugh over the crazy bitty.  
" well it was still a little annoying." Nightmare then dismissed, his smirk still there as he threw the needle and embedded it into the wall, " he had some interesting nightmares though. sometimes we come into his dreams only for him to kill everyone he was with first as if he didn't want us to do it."  
" i wouldn't have minded doing that though. killing things even in dreams is fun, makes me feel something i never felt before." Killer rolled onto his stomach as if to stop himself from squirming in delight.  
" that's why murder doesn't like you, you'd laugh at killin' people you care about while he'd mourn over it." Nightmare slumped back then against the wall and closed his eyes while his smirk melted to a usual grin.  
" and that's just no fun isn't it? him and i are so alike until you put those annoying things called 'emotions' in. if i had anything other than hate, amusement and cold apathy wouldn't i just feel an immense amount of guilt? who wants all of that honestly?" 

Nightmare nodded as he had the ability to feel guilt over his own actions and while he felt pride for most of them there were a few things he could have done better, like immediately puncturing the owner's hand as soon as they said he was nothing but a thing to reel in another bitty.  
He definitely feels guilt for not doing it, where he had instead looked at the owner in shock, processing that just like in the adoption center, he was going to be the barely tolerated bitty that's just there for convenience- only this time instead of having time to boil because his brother, a Dream Bitty, was adopted a mere _eight hours_ after getting into the adoption center while he had to wait _ten days_ , he instead had to be watching over and giving a continual amount of magical pressure on the soul of the other bitty.  
Sure, ten days seemed like not a long time in retrospect, but the thing was that if Killer had not been such a problem, Nightmare could have been waiting for _a long time_ for someone to come along and decide he was worth their time and effort.  
And not only that, but when you see someone you consider your twin, your other half, the other side of your coin be adopted into what looked like a happy and loving family with a fussy baby that looked like it could really use a calming Dream Bitty, you tend to watch the clock, judging your own worth by the fact that _they_ were adopted, _so why wasn't he_?  
Was it because he looked the way he did, a tar-like gooey substance instead of being a cuddly skeleton?  
Was it because he liked watching bitties argue and fight sometimes?  
Was it because it took a while for him to trust someone, even if they cared?  
Was it because he refused to eat nightmares when he didn't trust someone and instead visited those that dreamed to make the nightmares worse to give them the incentive to grab his attention and care?  
Because if that was the reason they could just go and jump off a building, he didn't have to answer to any of them, he didn't _have_ to give a damn.  
Nightmare's smile was gone and his eye was open by the time he brushed aside the anger he was spiraling into, the anger causing his tentacles to puncture the cardboard walls around him as he looked to Killer, his eye glowing bright cyan through the tar of his body.  
" the way you two form attachments are also pretty different too. you like yourself more than you like anyone else, you even dislike most bitties outside of sans bitties, while he basically likes anything but sans bitties, why do you think he attached himself so fast to the newcomer? i doubt it was just because she wore a dumb scarf, otherwise I think murders would bond better with Genos."  
" gotta point there." Killer nodded as he pushed himself up and sat on his heels, " why d'ya think the hobo is letting murder attach himself to the new one anyways? isn't it making him more... boring?" Killer offered, obviously having no idea what else to call it than what he thought of it.  
" she is making him docile, i agree, and so does the owner. i heard them talking to the idiots who sent her and when they told owner that it would take time for her to get to her other home they nearly blew a fuse. but not long after seeing murder and the newcomer again, walking, talking and being all chummy-like together, i swear on my lack of blood i saw the cogs turning in their head just seein' em.  
they want murder to bond to the toriel bitty because when she is finally taken away murder is going to definitely be worse than before, 'specially since murder is too self-loathing to actually tell her and thus can't hold her back on the grounds of not giving himself away. because of that i may not actually be able to stop him from dusting you that time around." 

Killer was silent for a little bit as he absorbed Nightmare's thoughts on the matter before smirking, " well then, all the more fun we're going to have when she is gone, right?"  
Nightmare stared at Killer, knowing the bitty with liquid hatred running from his sockets wasn't understanding how he was feeling- that he _couldn't_ understand-, and that Nightmare by himself could never make Killer understand that he was all Nightmare had.  
Killer was the one he was responsible for and the one who would actually be affected should Nightmare suddenly disappear, and him being affected would possibly dust the other bitties.  
Killer stared back at him, there being silence before he rocked back on his bed, pulling his legs out and laying them in front of himself as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, " hey, nightmare."  
" what?"  
" you know it's important to have a good vocabulary?"  
" oh?"  
" oh yeah, if i had known the difference between 'antidote' and 'anecdote' one of my good friends would still be alive." Killer then winked an eyesocket as that soaked in before Nightmare barked with laughter, so Killer kept them coming.  
" 'so where are you takin' me doc?' asked this patient to the doctor.  
' the morgue.' the doc replied.  
' what?' the patient panicked, ' but i ain't dead yet!'  
' well we aren't there yet either.'"  
Nightmare howled with laughter, " ahahahahahahaha! k-killer!"  
" what's black and sticks to a tree? a peepin' tom after a forest fire!  
why was the leper hockey game canceled? there was a face off in the corner!"  
" ahahahaha! ehehehehehehehe! killer stop!" Nightmare fell over and squirmed with laughter, holding the mass of goo where his stomach would be if any skeletons had one.  
" i bought my blind friend a cheese grater for his birthday and a week later he told me it was the most violent book he had ever read!  
my old owner said i was too reliant on technology, so i called 'em a hypocrite and unplugged their life support!"  
Nightmare couldn't stop laughing, his tentacles slamming on the ground and the walls as if to violently beat out the laughter as Killer joined him, both bitties rolling in laughter as Nightmare forgot all about his troubles.  
This was one of the main reasons why Killer was his friend. He only wanted to have a good time, and he came up with some dark jokes just to hit that spot no other bitty he had met could reach, both bitties laughing until their magic ached and their voices became hoarse, Killer not feeling anything but his amusement and Nightmare a happy high of contentedness and calm being with his best friend as they soon drifted off to be in nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the End of The chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it, review, comment, question, and how about this- 
> 
> I have something planned coming up, and for it I need new bittybones, and if you guys want, I can fill these slots with who you suggest!
> 
> I have at the very least three slots to fill, and you can do it with bitties you yourself own, bitties you have seen and you think would fit, or even bonded pairs of bittybones, because the list I have is so broad in terms of what the bitties will do I don't even mind if you fill the slot with any couple you want with the exception of fontcest (So Alphdyne, Undyrus, Papyton, Papffet, Other Pairs of Soriel, Sansby, Asgoriel, etc)  
> 1\. The Host(s) of the event  
> 2\. A Musical Bitty (or Bitties)  
> 3\. A Papyrus Bitty (From any AU)


	9. Courting Rituals and Violence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel wakes up from a Nightmare, Horror learns about how to court an Ethereal Bitty, and a fight breaks out with some angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter will contain Romance, Culture Clashes, fighting, very obvious foreshadowing for the future.

Toriel jerked up from the bed of fabrics and sponge with a cry, gasping for breath as it was morning, having had an awful dream of being all alone, wandering the house and calling for anyone, but nobody came.  
She was alone.  
And if there was anything a Toriel bitty feared secondary to losing those they cared about it was isolation, hell, some Mumcher bitties were once Classic Toriel bitties just left in isolation until they cracked and became Mumchers, signaled by their glowing green eyes and their desperation to never let their charges out of their sight.  
Toriel shook and trembled as she looked around, finding herself still so alone and wondering if she was in another dream as she curled into herself and let out a small sob into the cloth before the cushion of sponge moved, Tori opening up her teary eyes and looking to see Murder sitting on the bed beside her, looking to her in concern before she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him to her.  
" really bad one, huh? dammit nightmare..."  
Murder sighed as he held Tori as best as he could as she cried, weaving his phalanges through her fur, stroking and petting her through the silence before he started to hum for her a slow and deep tune that Toriel had never heard before, likely something of his own creation before Toriel noticed a sound accompanying it slowly afterwards, the sound of clicking bones.  
Rattling for a skeleton was something that happened for a variety of reasons, from happiness to emotional stress and anger or overwhelming sadness, and Murder was using it to comfort her as he kept up the tempo while combing his phalanges through her fur and in a matter of moments she had stopped feeling bad at all, sniffling before looking up to the skeleton holding her close to the point her upper half was in his lap as he stopped humming and rattling, his hands slowly ceasing their carding.  
" feelin' better tori? all _goat_ to go?" He smirked to her as she found herself already smiling to him as she gave a small snort, wiping away with tears with her sleeve.  
" _Skele-_ tons better, thank you Murder, I am sorry for overreacting. It's just... I don't know if this is a dream or not..."  
Murder chuckled, " so you're callin' me _dreamy_? tori ya make me blush." He smirked despite the slight dusting of purple magic on his cheekbones before he tugged on her fur hard, making her flinch at the discomfort, " that do it for you?"  
" Yes, I'm up." Toriel then sat up as he let her go, rubbing at the spot slightly before she turned to him, looking to him warmly, " Thank you Murder, for comforting me. I never thought you would go out of your way to do something like that since it's not really protecting me from anything."  
" well i go out of my way to do non-protective things with ya all the time, suppose it's not much different." Murder shrugged lazily before turning and rolling out of bed with a smile, " c'mon, we have breakfast in a little bit."  
" Alright." Toriel gave a small smile before getting up and going through her morning ritual until heading downstairs with the red bow scarf in it's perfect place around her throat and at her back as she smiled to Murder and he opened up the house, getting out with her, both of them pausing when they noticed Horror and Flames sauntering into his home with a pack on Flames' back. 

Toriel looked to Murder and he shrugged as they slid down the ladder and went over as Horror was making sure Flames was going to go first on the ladder, his eyelight on Killer's home before looking to Toriel and Murder approaching, acknowledging them but not even bothering to tense anymore from awareness.  
" Hello Horror, Flames, is something going on?" Toriel smiled to them, her paws clasped before her as Horror looked to Flames as the Grillby bitty stepped from the ladder for a second and nodded to Horror before looking to them and turning his full body to respectfully address them.  
" ………………………I have brought a gift for Horror...…………… as a proper thanks for what happened...……… and he wished to know about how to court Deme...…………………"  
" That's wonderful! May we be around for this teaching? I love to learn new things!" Toriel chimed happily to Horror as the bitty looked from her to Murder and then back.  
" you can do whatever ya want i guess." He then shrugged as he lugged his toy axe onto his shoulder with a grin, Murder giving a small chuckle, Flames nodding and turning back to the ladder, going up while clinging tightly to the package clinging on Flames' back, Toriel next as she climbed after the flame bitty, Murder and Horror staring at one another, neither one knowing how to trust one another because of how little they interacted.  
Did the fact that Murder protected Tori give him a free pass to share on the forgiveness Horror gave her, or did their past lack of care for one another play any part there being no forgiveness?  
Back in the day when it was just the two of them they generally left each other alone with Murder isolating himself and Horror just trying to survive day to day thanks to their terrible owner, not caring about Murder unless he was sometimes attacked by the little psycho whom was having a fit because Horror was a Sans Bitty and what did the owner expect dropping him in with a freaking Murder?  
Soon Horror swung his axe plushie down to be by his side instead of on his shoulder, it being his way of fiddling with it as he then shrugged, giving up, " i'll go first."  
He then turned his back to Murder and went up the ladder after Toriel and Flames before Murder slowly scaled up after he absorbed that he was also given a clean slate.  
Horror's home was more or less a doll house like Murder's, not made out of shoe boxes like Killer's was, as the whole home was painted a blood red, but the thing that would really catch the attention of others was all the wrappers laying around the house and inside it, either them having been cast aside by owner while they were snacking or something he stole, all the celophane picked clean from any type of crumb or trail left behind to the point it would probably be no shock that Horror sucked at the wrappers until he was sure nothing was left and then cast them aside and because laziness was a part of a Sans' nature he never went back and threw away the wrappers.  
Toriel's caretaker side twitched while Murder and Horror were having their standoff below and had obviously started moving all the wrappers into a little pile on the side of the platform with Flames assisting for a small moment, both stopping when Horror came up and motioned for them to follow him.

Horror opened up the house as it was even smaller than Murder's and with even less furniture, claw marks around the home, **SO HUNGRY** , **STARVING** and **TEETH** clawed onto the walls as there was a glasses case that was open and filled with cloth, it apparently serving as his bed and couch at the same time as there were scraps of glass and twigs around from failed attempts in the past to making his axe, upstairs there being his horde of food from Deme kept preserved and in their own little room for him to enjoy.  
Flames and the others looked around before he then turned to Horror and then gave a tug on the bindings of the gift keeping it on his back which then started to drip and gloop until it showed that Flames had Void on his back the whole time holding the gift for him.  
".........................He could explain faster." Flames offered before presenting the gift, the packaging super unimpressive and even cloth-like as Flames then offered it to Horror, " If you ever feel.............................. like there's nowhere to go................ here."  
Horror took the package and gently shook it with his skull right next to it, Toriel not hearing anything, but apparently Horror heard something and he seemed touched as he took the present to the couch and put it behind there while giving a pointed stare to everyone that if it was touched there would be consequences, looking then to Flames and offering his hand, Flames hesitantly offering his hand back as Horror tugged him close and murmured a reverent thanks to the bitty, letting go of him then and looking to Void whom was dripping in the corner, not drawing any attention to himself until Horror had turned to him.

Horror put his axe plushie on his shoulders and hooked his hands over the ends of it as if to restrain himself for the shier bitty, " hey there voids, don't leave me in the _dark_ about what to do for Deme, hit me up."  
Void looked to him almost shyly before nodding, " Alright... What would you like to know?"  
" assume i know nothin' about courtin', voids, 'cause what she might need is different from mine."  
" Tell me about yours first... Even if they are very different I would like to know." Gaster bitties of any type always liked learning about new things a little more than any other bitty, their pursuit for knowledge always drawing them out of shyness or isolation that they put themselves in.  
" Certainly." Toriel chimed with her eyes sparkling as she always loved learning something new as Horror looked to her before Murder and Flames with a slight flush before shrugging.  
" alright i guess. uh... not really a surprise that the horrortale line, from teeths to horrors and mumchers, all value food more than anythin' so our courtin' revolves a lot around that.  
the first thing for the horrortales involved to do is ta down the best thing they can possibly get, from birds ta snakes or small animals, then present a feast made out of all parts of th' animal, an' what can't be eaten is fashioned inta gifts for the loved one, but Deme..." He shook his head, " she loves other creatures. can't do that to her, 'sides, she deserves somethin' classier than that."  
" Anything else?" Void gently pried.  
" well not really, we're all pretty straight to the point on this stuff, but i mean if we accepted each other's feasts and gifts and thought they were cool we would pretty much get soul bonded and mated as soon as possible and move in together. horrortale bitties like to get straight to the point and not let our mates go ever. really hope she knows what she's gettin' into." Horror chuckled slightly, a kind of self-depreciating look on his face before he grabbed at the handle and swung it back from around his neck and down, " so tell me about the gods and goddess bitties, what should i get for the lady who has everythin'?"

" Well... For Ethereal Bitties their courting is both the same and the opposite." Void spoke as he squeezed more into the corner.  
" what?" Horror seemed to be perking a brow at Void in confusion, not moving to the bitty.  
" There are three stages to Ethereal Bitty Courting. The first step would be to offer up something in tribute to them and their domains. Goddess Muffet would probably have you make something for her out of solid gold or have you steal something of wealth for her to show her how much you care, or you would present God Gaster with something you made with the help of your magic and so on, so you would have to bring Deme something you grew yourself, it could be a flower or food, whatever you prefer. The second stage would have to be the showy stage, everything after this is merely something to catch their attention. Bring her something you think is the most beautiful thing you have seen, could be anything from a pretty and odd-shaped rock to a piece of clothing you think would look amazing on them, something showy and they could flaunt off to other bitties as something their beloved got them by wearing it or presenting it at the forefront of their home. And then the last thing that would happen would be essentially the complete acceptance of one another, the finale, soul bonding, marriage, and this can be a private or public affair, but you will promise yourselves to one another openly and bond your souls for the rest of your lives to one another."  
Horror's eyelight seemed to fuzz out thinking about it all as Void looked to Toriel.  
" Are you curious about learning of the courting rituals of Murders?"  
Toriel stared at the other bitty for a moment before her whole face was encased with a blush, Murder's left eye sparking in fury before Flames stepped in front of Void and shook his head, offering his hand back to the Gaster Bitty which then draped himself over the Grillby bitty with no difficulty.  
" ………………………………We shall be heading out now...……………… Will we see you later Horror?"  
" guaranteed as always flames." Horror murmured to him.  
Flames got ready to leave before pausing and looking to the three that he was in the presence for a moment, " …………………There's a Christmas party that's going to be hosted by the neighborhood bitties…………… Deme wants to know if you all want to come."  
" Is she hosting it?" Toriel asked curiously.  
"...…………...No. You will meet them soon enough...…………… We shall give details to Horror when we meet...……… Later." He then turned and left with Void as everyone waved goodbye to them.  
After they left Horror lifted up his shirt, exposing his spine and ribcage as he stuffed in his plushie into there, pulling out a piece of cloth and loosely tied the axe to his spine, it being loose enough that if he tore it out he would not injure himself, twitching slightly before pulling the shirt down like he had for the past day since he had it, looking to Toriel and Murder, " so... breakfast?"

" Of course Horror, let's go." Toriel beamed to him before motioning for him to join them, Murder teleporting them down to the floor before heading to the breakfast table, finding Owner was making pancakes and stacking them for both parties of themselves and the bitties, Toriel again wishing she had some utensils as Murder then teleported them up, Horror checking out the breakfast to see what was going on as it was pretty obvious the ones they messed up on were coming to them, but he was already salivating, not going to waste a single bit, because even when well fed, Horrors _never_ wasted food.  
Looking around Toriel noticed Nightmare and Killer not following far after them before they teleported onto the table, Nightmare looking to Toriel and giving her a grin as she recalled last night's dream and felt a tremor going through her before looking to Murder.  
" I have to speak with him." She affirmed.  
" you think it's gonna do any good?" Murder looked to her with a brow bone perked.  
" Don't know until you try." Toriel whispered before Murder glued himself to her side.  
" well like fuck are you going without me." His eyes locked on the other bitties as Toriel then nodded and turned, making her way to Nightmare as he was sitting down before the plate as another pancake was put on their stack and he looked to Toriel as she approached.

" got some kind of problem, scarf?" He asked as he tilted his head with a grin to her.  
" Yes. I do not appreciate what you are doing Nightmare."  
" if you mean i am offending you by existing then i'm sure everyone's guilty of it."  
" Nightmare..."  
His grin fell away when he saw that she was not angry at him, she looked... sad.  
" stop looking at me like that."  
" I can't... Nightmare, are you okay?"  
Nightmare stared at her as if she had said something completely out of left field, " of course i am! what the hell else makes you think otherwise?!"  
" Because..." Toriel stepped closer, as did Murder as his eye was already activated watching Nightmare's tentacles twist and writhe before their gaze at his aggitation, " Your nightmares are hitting more and more close to home for me. It's like you want me to confront you about it and get you to stop."  
The whole house was silent as the Owner stared at them, Horror even distracted from possibly eating, everything was quiet with the exception of the hiss of the pan from the pancakes.  
However the silence was broken with the sound of a tentacle whipping through the air so fast nobody had time to react as it wrapped around Toriel's throat, lifting her up as she gasped and grasped at it with her paws.  
" you. know. nothing." He hissed as the Owner sat back and watched him with a critical eye, only for one bitty to go absolutely crazy at the action.  
" YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" Murder screamed as he lifted his left hand, and not only did Nightmare's soul turn blue lifting him into the air, but a skull the size of a tennis ball appeared in front of Nightmare as it opened it's maw wide, starting to glow as Nightmare had immediately let go of Toriel as she dropped to the ground hard on her feet as she gasped, not for air, but in shock as she then looked to Murder.  
" you're going to regret you were even born nightmare." Murder whispered with his eyelights the size of pinpricks.  
" MURDER, STOP!" Toriel ordered snapping him out of his reverie for a moment as he looked to her, " I'm not hurt, see? I'm fine, he wasn't even choking me!"  
" sure as hell looked like it." Murder hissed as he looked back to the floating bitty before hearing the sounds of someone being tackled and looked to see Horror had tackled Killer whom was headed for Murder.  
" But he didn't! Please, let him down!" She pleaded.  
There was a moment of silence before the skull dissolved and Murder motioned for Nightmare to be brought closer to him, but not too much, " Why were you showing mercy if she was wrong as you said?"  
Nightmare looked angrier than before, only for something to cut through everything.  
" Such Drama." Sighed Owner, whom then walked over and pried Horror off of Killer while they struggled before slamming a glass cup over Killer, doing the same to Horror, entrapping them with a seal at the bottom of the cups before looking to Nightmare, Murder and Toriel, " It's obviously because he was lying." They rolled their eyes before looking to Murder, " Drop him."  
Murder looked to them before Toriel and then Nightmare, and with a scowl dropping them.  
" I am disappointed in you Nightmare. I thought you were better than this. Are all bitties somehow mushy? I thought you were the bad guys, but the only bad guy here is Killer! I am very disappointed in you."  
Nightmare flinched before looking to the ground where he was dropped as Owner then looked to Murder, " You stop stuff like this and-"  
There was the sound of a ringing phone.  
Silence again in the house.  
The Owner then rolled their eyes, turning and going to pick up the phone as the three bitties looked to one another and then their trapped companions as Horror hit the glass, scratching and clawing in panic to get out while Killer merely plopped down with the liquid hate falling like rivers, like he had been trapped in the cup a few times before this one.  
The three freed bitties then looked to one another before slowly making their way over, wary of one another as Murder's magic enveloped the scratched glass cup and lifted it for him, Horror immediately running from it to Toriel and Murder with a small hiss as Nightmare wrapped the cup in his tentacles and pulled it up, looking down at Killer whom looked back to him before standing and giving him a nod, joining his side even if they were still twitchy as the phone call ended and the Owner came in.

There was silence before the Owner finally spoke, " I have to leave to a funeral in a few days. And it will be for a few days. I'll see what I have to do about all of you little shits in the meantime, because I don't want to come home and find everyone dusted."  
It didn't seem like it was something they didn't want, but the bitties kept that to themselves as the Owner turned and left as a bit of time passed before the bitties went to start eating together in semi-tense silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should put this up in case anyone is particularly confused as to why Nightmare attacked her, it was because admitting weakness in front of Owner is one of the worst things you could do, so while he reacted poorly, he still did it in a way where even if the Owner still saw through it they wouldn't be angry because there is violence involved.  
> And please read and review!


	10. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel finally has a good talk with Nightmare as Killer and Murder help Horror get his courting gift for Deme.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~~~~~ Means Timeskip, but in this chapter it means Timeskip backwards :)

After the tense and silent breakfast the bitties make their way back to their room, the silence heavy on all of them as they all walked before Toriel steeled herself, reached out and placed her hand on Nightmare, the goo from his body already sinking into her fur even if it didn't attach itself to her quite yet, Nightmare jerking to look at her as his blue eye blazed, alerting Killer and the others, everyone becoming tense.  
" _what are you doing_?" Nightmare hissed at her, " haven't you done enough?"  
Toriel drew her paw back slightly before hardening and grabbing him even harder, " We need to talk."  
" you want another fight? I can choke you for real this time." He growled, Murder taking a step to him with his eyes already bright with magic, his left eye bleeding purple flames, on guard and not willing to let anyone outside stop the fight this time.  
" you try and do that to her again and i'll make sure to-"  
" Murder." Toriel gently touched him on the shoulder with her free paw and he went rigid, looking to her before back to Nightmare, there being a small staring contest before Murder finally broke eye contact to look back at Horror as the hole-headed bitty had already hooked his phalanges into his right eyesocket with his other hand twitching, on the ready for any sudden movements. Murder glanced at Killer and found the bitty without eyelights staring back at him with the liquid hate running down like streams from his sockets, his soul moving erratically against his chest, Murder looking back to Toriel, whom still wanted to speak as she gave him a small comforting squeeze on the shoulder, never having let him go.  
" I'll be fine. Please go on ahead, I promise it will be alright."  
Promise.  
Such a weighty word to use around a Sans bitty.  
Murder's eyes became half-lidded and he leaned into her, there being a silence as he contemplated everything before he nodded.  
" i'll trust you. but only if he goes too." Murder looked to Killer, " i'm not going anywhere if he's around you, i trust you and not him."  
Nightmare had his eyesight fixed on Murder for his whole contemplation before the gooey bitty looked to his best friend, " killer, go with him."  
Killer twitched, his empty eye sockets staring straight at Murder and Horror and his grin twitched as the liquid hate from his eyesockets continued to stream down to the ground to show his displeasure, " alright."  
He moved to the other two with a swagger, the confidence of a true Killer as he flashed a grin to the two bitties as if he was going to enjoy the time they would spend together, which he actually might depending on what went on as Toriel then turned to Nightmare and finally withdrew her hand fully from both of them, motioning for the one-eyed bitty to go with her, the two little groups splitting. 

Toriel looked at Nightmare, this being the first time she was ever truly alone with another bitty besides Murder, and honestly she had become so comfortable around the protective bitty that him being gone made her feel like a piece of her had broken off, even if she was still whole, like she was without something important.  
" alright. we're alone, what do you want?" Nightmare snapped as they were across the room, furthest away from the entrance and in between Killer and Murder's house with a clear view of the three other bites scaling up the ladder to Horror's home.  
" Last night and this morning, I stand by what I said, even if I was foolish enough to think Owner wouldn't care of our conversation."  
" damn right you were foolish, do you know how stupid that is? you heard what they said and what they expect of us, dammit newbie, even I learned faster than this!"  
Toriel blinked once before a second time.  
Nightmare was.... scolding her?  
A smile twitched on her face before she started to giggle, but that made Nightmare more frustrated, " what the hell is so funny?!" He snapped as his tentacles punctured the ground to show his irritation.  
However Toriel waved a paw while she covered her giggles, shaking her head while still smiling, " Nothing Nightmare, I swear. I just find it sweet... That you care so much."  
" argh!" Nightmare clutched at his skull as if he was in pain from her suggesting that he carried positive emotions for anyone, " don't make me seem like i'm some kind of mother hen alright?! dammit even i know if you die here things are going to go to hell and everyone's going to have a bad time!"  
" Good thing I don't plan on dying then, right?" Toriel smiled warmly to him, finding the way he was acting to be kind of cute when he wasn't pretending to choke her or allowing Killer to harm others, " I am happy that you are so young, Nightmare, otherwise you would be much more jaded and destructive from such a place."  
" yeah, they warned me about that shit, about how nightmare bitties treated badly for a long time essentially go into a hibernation and act like a magnet for bad vibes and make bad people and bitties worse by exerting their influence to the real world in their coma, I get it and that ain't gonna be me." Nightmare shook his head, " anyways, what's gonna happen now? we gonna be besties now, braiding each other's hair and havin' sleepovers? 'cause I hate to break it to ya, but i got no hair and if i try with your fur I'm gonna get stuck." He stared at her blankly as he spoke, deadpan.  
" Put thought into that kind of thing, have you?" She softly teased with a grin, raising a hand when Nightmare made an indignant sound that sounded kind of like a hiss, " I'm obviously kidding Nightmare. Honestly I just... want you around."  
He stared at her for a few moments as if he couldn’t really comprehend what she was saying, still looking kind of deadpan, " you... actually want me around?" Nightmare blinked three times in rapid succession, no real emotion showing on his face.  
" Of course. I care about your well-being despite the rocky start we had. Everyone deserves a fresh clean slate once and awhile, there being a few exceptions, like if Killer had actually dusted anyone, then I wouldn't accept him, but... You are a good and worthy bitty Nightmare. Please be around more often with us." She asserted to him, taking his hands and squeezing them to prove her point as she smiled to him.  
Nightmare stared at her blankly before his goo started to melt even faster, Nightmare wrenching his hands away from her and muttering something as he turned around from her.  
" Nightmare?" Toriel started to worry that maybe she was a little too direct.  
" i said that sounds fine dammit! just don't expect me to eat your nightmares until you learned your lesson not to open your trap around owner!" Nightmare barked at her as he looked back to her, making her jolt in surprise before she smiled again.  
" That's fair, I will accept that from you Nightmare. Maybe though… you can do something for Murder?” Toriel knew that everytime she fell asleep Murder was staying awake the whole night if not taking short naps to not deal with the nightmares.  
“ no. that’s going to take some more time around him, we’ve known him for too long to just _boom_ become friends with him, that would be ridiculous. give it some time and i will think about it.” Nightmare answered firmly as he crossed his arms, Toriel nodding them as she looked over him.  
“ Nightmare… You know that we will be going to a Christmas Party in the near future, yes?”  
“ yeah, what of it?”  
“ well… Do you mind coming with me for a little while?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Murder twitched as he had watched Toriel and Nightmare walk away, a voice inside him ferally clawing inside him telling him that she was not safe and he had to follow her.  
“ oh please, stop being such a worrisome guard dog.” Killer seemed to roll his lack of eyelights at Murder’s concern, “ she’ll be fine, nightmare knows not to kill anything without me present, I wanna be there for his first one.” He grinned as in response Horror placed his hand on Murder’s sleeve, the hooded bitty looking to Killer so fast his head nearly snapped backwards, Horror keeping Murder from starting a fight.  
“ c’mon murder, don’ listen to him and let’s do somethin’ else, i need your help anyways.” He then made his way to the ladder to his home, waiting for the two to approach before he motioned Killer to go first.  
“ aw man, don’t you trust me?” Killer grinned to him.  
“ no, so go first.” Horror pointed to the ladder and Killer shrugged and went up first with Horror second so neither Killer nor Murder could attack each other as Murder went last, looking behind his shoulder while climbing up, watching Toriel and Nightmare reach where they were going to discuss things before getting up to Horror’s home, tearing his eyes away from the two very reluctantly and looking to Horror.

“ keep followin’.” Horror motioned as he then went to his house, grabbing crevices and pulling himself up as he climbed on top of his house and went onto the bookshelf above it, Killer and Murder following as they made their way to the window on the right side of the room, just across from the corner Nightmare and Toriel were in as Murder tried to steal a glance again, but Killer’s home and platform was in the way of seeing them as he glared at it, only stopping when he bumped into Horror whom was turned to look out the window already as he looked to Murder with his single blood red eyelight.  
“ your enthusiasm is infectious.” Horror smirked to him in slight amusement before motioning with his hand for his friend to look where he was, all three bitties looking from their view of the window to see the other house, or their backyard more accurately, seeing as their house was still pushed back from the others as the bitties noticed the flowers that Horror was pointing to. They were sitting there dying, not being tended to by the owner despite being there as Horror looked to Murder.  
“ i wanna get one of those for Deme.” He pointed to them.  
“ hey, not one to judge seeing as i’m not interested in that kind of thing, but wouldn’t it mean more if you did something like grow something?” Killer asked from the other side of him emotionlessly, more than likely curious but not invested.  
Horror looked to Killer almost blankly before sighing, “ i tried growin’ stuff before… when i noticed owner wasn’t gonna feed me like i wanted, i started stealin’ seeds and tried ta plant ‘em and water ‘em, ‘cause i didn’t wanna starve, but no matter what i did nothin’ grew, nothin’ sprouted. it’s fine, but at the same time, i wanna give deme what i can do in honor of what she can do, an’ i need your help.”  
“ alright i guess, what do we have to do?” Murder asked as he shrugged. Horror then walked back to his house, still standing on the bookshelf as he pointed downwards and both of the other bitties saw a red solo cup the owner must have thrown away in the past filled with dirt.  
“ help me get this to there an’ i’ll do the rest.”  
Murder slipped his hands in his pockets as he looked to Killer standing beside him, Killer looking back to him before the emotionless bitty gave a shrug.  
“ better than just sitting here and watching you two. i would rather we were doin’ something more fun, but i can take this over boredom.”  
“ good enough.” Horror shrugged as Murder then pulled out his hand and with his magic levitated the cup onto the bookshelf beside Horror whom pushed it before the window physically, both Killer and Murder opening the window with their powers before Murder levitated the cup out and to the ground, Horror walking to the edge of the window when Murder noticed the window start to slam close on the red-eyed bitty as Killer tried to slam it down, Murder using his magic to clamp down on the window as both bitties looked to one another, Killer grinning widely and Murder having a fixed grin in return as Horror made it safely out with the other two to follow, leaving the window open behind them so they could slip back in when the time came.

After making their way there Horror looked around to try and find a good flower of choice.  
“ so what do you plan on doing with a dying flower?” Killer asked as him and Murder looked around the garden themselves to the gorgeous if not crumbling empire of flowers.  
“ plan on healin’ it. it’s the only thing i can do ta actually _contribute_ to life.”  
“ aren’t horrors bad healers?” Murder asked as he looked to Horror.  
“ yeah, another reason why nothin’ grew with me, but i’ll be damned if i can’t bring Deme a tribute. i said i wanna court her her way, and i meant it.” Horror then stopped as something caught his eye and he made his way over to it.  
It was a Chrysanthemum, this one being a deep pink instead of red as it had holes in the petals and was dead on the outer petals with its stem a little brittle.  
When Killer came close Horror hissed at him, causing the other bitty to grin, but take a step back with a small chuckle, Horror looking to Murder and motioning that this was the one, Murder setting down the cup as Horror then looked to the tall flower, wrapping his hands around it and closing his eyes. 

Horror bitties did not have much in the way of magic, seeing as they barely had any to begin with, not being able to teleport and their magic was something to obviously be used very sparingly if not having any as Horror poured all of his magic into the flower.  
However Killer and Murder both noticed that Horror wasn’t just pouring healing magic into it, Murder trying to speak up to alert the bitty.  
“ uh, horror, i think you should-”  
“ shut up.” Horror murmured as he sunk to his knees, starting to get a little weak as the flower was starting to actually bleed red as the holes in it did not seal, merely becoming jagged, the dead petals shriveling and falling as if the healthy ones were sucking whatever had them still clinging right out of them and when it was done the flower was blood red, the petals somehow looking sharp with jagged scars on some of them, the stem healthy and green, almost looking like a whole other flower as Horror stayed on his knees and instead started clawing at the dirt, causing both other bitties to tilt their heads until they found Horror removing the flower root by root, both finding the ends which were once white were now tipped in red and looked almost like drills as soon Horror finished and put it in his teeth, carrying it to the cup and digging well into the earth of the cup to put the flower in its new home.  
“ well… i dunno what you did, but it looks good.” Murder shrugged as Killer nodded.  
“ i liked when it sucked the life out of the other petals.”  
Horror shook his head before looking to Killer then.  
“ i’ll be givin’ this to deme at the party, or at least after. you do anythin’ to it and i’ll snap your femurs and drink the marrow out of ‘em.”  
“ ah yes, the marrow stew threat.” Killer sighed as if in nostalgia as both him and Murder then took the cup with their magic and transported it back home with Horror making sure it was protected, it being safely put behind his home as Horror looked to the two of them and they nodded, making their way back to try and find Toriel and Nightmare.  
Only to find them at Murder’s home as Toriel had gotten Nightmare into a knit Christmas Sweater of Red and black with Christmas Trees across the chest, the yarn having came with her in her care package as Nightmare was obviously grumbling from wearing the sweater, but Toriel ignored him as she looked to the three boys with the brightest smile from her success with Nightmare.  
“ Oh Hello you three!” She beamed to them as widely as her muzzle allowed as she held up her knitting needles, “ Who’s next?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Hey guys, I'm putting up an Ask Box Now on my Tumblr for you to ask the bittybones anything you want (I mean if you want) so if you want to here it is:   
> https://dotchi13.tumblr.com/


	11. The Christmas Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The anticipated Christmas Party is here and Toriel meets a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the Christmas Chapter, I hope you guys enjoy!

Toriel hummed as she lifted up the tin cup that she had gotten ahold of with the help of Murder, she was using it to bake a classic butterscotch cinnamon pie- the ingredients helpfully given to her by Deme- with the utensils that she had brought with her upon arriving to her new home.   
She used fire magic for cooking for the first time in a while, seeing as she was on the beginning of her third week with the boys- it having been a full week and a day since she befriended Nightmare-, not having baked the whole time she was there, it being early December now as she hummed happily and lifted up the cup that trapped all the heat in, pulling out a gorgeous pie as the scent of butterscotch and cinnamon filled the room. 

They had no need to worry about Owner at this time, as they had left a few hours earlier demanding to Deme’s Owner that they take care of the bitties while Owner was gone to the funeral.   
Seeing as they had no idea the connection the bitties had to the house next door, they thought nothing of asking stuff from them, as someone had to be there to feed them and have them not dust each other in the time that the Owner was gone.  
Honestly their Owner made so little impact outside of feeding times that life was continuing on kind of as usual, though everyone was packed or packing to stay at Deme’s seeing as her owner- whom is named Patience by the bitties for their soul trait- was going to pick them up and take them over to their house before the bitties would set off as a team to the Christmas party.   
Horror was hiding behind the side of Murder’s house, his eye on the pie as he wasn’t actually doing much to conceal himself, just staring at it hungrily as he had been forced out of his jacket and white shirt by Toriel into a blood red Christmas sweater that had ‘ _Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal_ ’ knit into it in black, seeing as those were the only colors she actually had.   
Horror had no idea about the reference, though Toriel promised to him that he would learn about it soon enough, and he liked the saying anyways, it garnering a chuckle out of him when initially presented it to him.  
Killer and Nightmare were all packed up and waiting in front of their home, Nightmare in the tree-stamped red knit sweater and Killer in a sweater that had on it ‘ _Permanent Resident of the Naughty List_ ’, which he didn’t mind at all, in fact it just amused him.   
Murder however was a little harder to make something for, as he had put his foot down that it had to have a hoodie or he wasn’t going to wear it, feeling uncomfortable whenever his hood was down.   
So Toriel knit him a jacket of red trimmed with black like a santa jacket with a hood, and when she finished and offered it to him, he looked to her in surprise.   
“ you… want me to wear this tori?”   
“ Why not? You would make a great _sans_ ta!” She laughed as he looked to her with wide eyesockets before back to it, a little stunned still.   
“ because you have essentially the same outfit?”   
Toriel really didn’t notice it until Murder pointed it out, finding that she actually did make it just like hers.   
Her outfit was a red dress that was trimmed in black, it being long-sleeved and almost hitting the ground.   
She felt a little foolish not having noticed that before, but she had only been working with those two colors the whole time, so that was what she used to try and justify herself, even as her Soul fluttered a little at the thought of them both matching, she shrugged it away.   
And so now here she was, dressed up like a dark version of Mrs. Claus, the red Papyrus scarf secure around her neck while black ‘ribbons’ were knitted as well to tie at the base of her ears, giving her the festive look she wanted as she set down the pie to cool, motioning Murder to keep an eye on it while she double checked their things to make sure it was all secure and accounted for on the trip over, there being a knock on the doorway as it was Patience.

They waved to everyone and brought in a carrier for everyone to load their things and possibly themselves into it if they wanted to, setting it down into the ground in the middle of all the houses.  
“ I’m sorry if you believe yourself too good for the carrier but I thought you would appreciate not having to carry your things.” They offered up.  
“ i’ll take any excuse to be lazy.” Horror merely chuckled as he slid down the ladder from Murder’s home to get what he wanted from his own home across, Nightmare and Killer slowly approaching with their own things dangling from Nightmare’s tentacles.   
Murder waved his hand, encasing the bags Toriel fashioned for the both of them with his magic before he let them drift onto the carrier while Toriel grabbed her pie, Murder then teleporting onto Horror’s home to find the bitty covering the Chrysanthemum gift in a handkerchief that Murder had never seen before, and when the flower should have been at least bending from the weight of the foreign object, instead the flower still stood tall and proud, it’s petals visibly digging into the fabric as Murder waved a hand to Horror to show that he was there and he was willing to take it.   
The hole-headed bitty twitched and nodded, watching with an almost paternal care as the cup was encased with magic, Murder taking the flower to the carrier as Horror grabbed his bags and pitched himself over the edge to meet with everyone else as they met and sat _on top_ of the carrier instead of being with their bags.  
When given a questioning look by Patience, Nightmare rolled his eyelight, “ as if we trust any human enough to actually go into a cage.”   
Patience offered their hands up as a gesture of surrender before they grabbed the handle and took them to their home, then subsequently the bitty room as they immediately noticed a difference as the whole place was decorated for the Christmas season. Tinsel lined the borders of the houses, the fireplace Flames lived in having stockings pinned up already, a Christmas tree that would come up to the human’s knee standing beside the bitty kitchen, still bare to be decorated with more friends and family later with a box of ornaments beside it.   
Soon they noticed Flames and Void, as the Grillby bitty was burning a different color, being a swirl of green flames wearing a white and red knit Christmas sweater depicting an open fireplace as Void was wearing a candy-cane striped bow tie, Deme not in sight.  
“ whoa flames, lookin’ hot, what’cha do for that?” Horror asked as he hopped down and started unloading everything.   
“ ………………………………… Elemental Candies…………………… Always good for the Holiday Season.”  
Murder nodded at the bitties, using his magic to take out the covered flower and hide it as Void slowly made his way over to Toriel at the smell of the glorious butterscotch-cinnamon pie, the goopy figure staring at it before her.   
“ Oh would you like a piece Void?” Toriel asked with a smile, happy the reclusive bitty was taking interest as his mask-like-face bobbed up and down, the small goat monster smiling to him before she went to get a pie-cutter for the pie, going to give some to him at the party while Horror got into the elevator to Deme’s house.

“ hey Deme! ya alive in there?” Horror called light-heartedly to the home as he stepped out of the lift.   
“ ……………………… Deme went on ahead to the party.” Flames mentioned below, Horror feeling a pang, pausing with his eyelight still on the house before he glanced to the green-flamed bitty for a moment.  
“ oh… that so?”  
“ Don’t be mad…” Void called as he looked from Toriel to Horror on the high platform, “ She wanted to make sure everyone would be aware of Killer and possibly Nightmare.”   
“ oh you try and douse a flame bitty one time suddenly you’re in _hot water_ with everyone else.” Killer merely laughed instead of actually being angry about it as Nightmare shrugged it off, Flames taking another step away from the target-soul bitty while Killer laughed.   
Horror nodded then as he went and placed all his things beside his chrysanthemum sleeping sleeping spot that was still present and beside Deme’s lily bed, looking over it as he hoped Deme would like the one he had healed.   
“ Alright everyone I think it’s time we head out!” Toriel called out before looking to Flames and Void, “ Do you two know where it is?”   
Both bitties nodded as Flames picked up Void and put him on his back, the Gaster bitty not being too quick to move, lacking the legs for it, so Flames was to be his transportation as Murder took ahold of the cup holding the flower again as he joined Toriel’s side.   
“.................. This way.” Flames motioned and started his walk with the five other bitties to follow him.   
They made their way across the street and a little to the left to a house absolutely decked in Holiday Cheer, finding Deme standing beside the very slightly opened front door. 

She was dressed in a flowing dress that was green and white-striped like a candy cane, it being lined with faux white fur, strings with puffs at the end tied like bows at the base of her ears just like Tori had done as she perked up when they arrived.   
“ Hello everyone, welcome to the home of False, Sprinkles and Red Velvet. Everyone else is inside, so you get to meet at least one of the hosts as soon as you go in.” She motioned everyone inside as she looked then at Horror whom was the last to go in, taking in his appearance as she covered her mouth to hide a smile.   
“ Goodness, _whale_ look at _mew_! What a _purr_ fect outfit for the party.” She beamed to him, Horror’s face flushing with red magic, but he merely grinned wider to her with his eyelight just as wide as if to take in everything from her.  
“ and you look absolutely _ribbiting_ , absolutely scrumptious and i ain’t _lion_.” He spun a phalange in a motion to make her spin and she did so.   
Her skirt flared before she looked to him happily, her face flushed as everyone heard the rattle that trembled through his bones at their eyes meeting again as Toriel held her paw to her heart, feeling her heart melt before Murder tapped his hand on Horror’s arm, bringing him back as Murder motioned his head back to the hiding cup as Horror nodded and then looked back to Deme.   
“ so i got somethin’ for ya deme…”   
“ I have something for you as well, it’s inside.” Deme beamed to him as she offered her paw to him.   
Horror nodded, taking it and letting her pull him in as Murder and Toriel looked to one another before they all pressed forward, meeting with the Host first as it was an Asgore bitty, a Classic one at that as Toriel felt an almost baffling mix of emotions seeing him.

Toriel and Asgore bitty relationships were a very complicated bunch, some loved each other deeply, others never ever got along, others even only got together to create the entity known as the Asriel Bitty.   
Those bitties are never able to be created from raw magic like most bitties could be, and only could be created by the combining of an Asgore and a Toriel, which is why some would do such a thing as pair once to make the child, but stay distant from one another otherwise, it was a mixed bag for their relationships and you had to do a little digging when you adopted the two to see if they would get along or not considering as there was never really a right answer with that pair, unlike other pairs like Sans’ and Tori’s, or Papyri and Sans’ whom were all pretty assuredly positive side, there also being an assuredly negative side such as Horrors and Undynes.   
Toriel herself got a little… rigid around Asgores. Sure she could befriend them, but they were not in her top five bitties to hang around.   
The broad-shouldered and golden-haired bitty was wearing a Santa suit of red trimmed in white, as noticed her and smiled widely to her, offering his hand.   
“ Howdy! Welcome to my home, the name’s False and it’s nice to see new fresh faces ‘round here!”   
“ the hell kind of a name is ‘false’?” Nightmare blinked.   
“ same could be said about our own names.” Murder muttered as he stared at the Asgore through hooded eyesockets.   
The Asgore seemed a little embarrassed.   
“ It stands for the plant ‘False Goat’s Beard’. Our owner really tried and I am happy they did, I know I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything better.”   
“ Ah yes, Asgore’s are not that great at coming up with names.” Toriel chuckled slightly, Nightmare and Killer giving a small snicker as well in only a more mean-spirited way, and stepped forward.   
Toriel and Asgore took each other’s paws and giving a firm shake, it being a little stiff on Toriel’s end, “ It’s a pleasure to be invited and allowed into your home, I hope we can all have a good time. I am Toriel, this is Murder, Horror, Nightmare and Killer.” Toriel listed as she gestured to said bitties for each, Asgore taking them in with quite a bit of concern in his eyes, but then warmly looking to her and nodding, gesturing her close and whispering to her as Murder turned nearly into granite.   
“ I trust the rest of my guests will be safe still?” He murmured.   
Toriel almost felt offended, but honestly there was a little bit to worry about with Killer being there as Deme walked past the Asgore with Horror’s hand still in hers.   
“ They will be fine, now come, let us go and enjoy this!” Deme demanded as Flames and Void followed her, False sighing and pulling the front door closed seeing as there would be no others coming recently, turning back and seeing Murder standing there facing him before False found his soul turning blue, gravity starting to weigh down heavily on him until he took a knee to be eye-level to Murder.   
“ hey there buddy, i just wanna talk to you for a moment.” The red-coated skeleton sauntered over, purple flames sparking from his left eye light from the mix of blue and red magic.   
“ now i’m not really the jealous type, i’m not jealous of you and what you have going on- but i am protective. and the next time you try to imply to tori that we are something to be scared of when i would die for her, well, buddy… i’ll show you quite a _mad_ time the next time you try that. get it?”   
False felt a small pang of fear, but tried to not let it show, “ Got it…”   
“ good. see ya later, false.” Murder then turned around, waving his hand as the magic shifted somewhere else other than him and Murder teleported to be beside Toriel, her looking to him warmly as False shook his head and hesitantly went to follow to see the others.

The whole home was as decked out inside as the outside was, Christmas Music playing from the living room, a tiny piano being utilized as well as the loud voice of a Classic Papyrus booming out ‘All I want for Christmas’, everyone in the group coming to face the crowd of bitties as this was obviously a bitty-friendly neighborhood seeing how many there were, dancing and having a good time all together at the party.  
Deme looked to Horror to see if he was okay, finding him staring blankly at everyone with his grip tightening on her, most Horror bitties not inept in being around or in crowds, but Horror was basically isolated with three other bitties that rarely interacted for most of his life, so it was a bit overwhelming.   
He noticed then she was staring at him, flushing slight red, “ somethin’ wrong Deme?”   
“ Oh no, I was just wanting to make sure you would be okay before I took you through.”  
Horror rolled his eyelight good-naturedly, “ ‘m tougher than i look, i’ll follow ya anywhere.”   
She beamed to him before tugging him through the masses that turned to greet them, Flames and Void quickly breaking from the group after Toriel paused for a moment and gave Void the pie piece she promised him.   
Nightmare watched Flames walk into the fireplace which was blazing hot and filled with various Grillby bitties of green, red and some Purple because Fellby bitties don’t care to put in effort, Void going to find a place to hide as he ate his slice of pie before he bumped into a cute and squeaking little Flowey Bitty known as a Daze the Daisy, soon Void softening to the cuteness and trying to communicate with squeaks to mimic it, helping the little flower get some water seeing as it was rooted in a pot and could not really move much.   
Murder’s eyelights trained on a small impromptu stage made for this night with a Classic Papyrus standing on it and singing in the usual loud and boisterous voice they all had, while a Classic Undyne was playing the piano at a rapid pace, Horror scowling and covering one side of his skull where his ear would be if he had ears, not because of the Papyrus, but just to spite the Undyne.   
Toriel paused while walking and looked back to Nightmare and Killer as something hit her that made her feel almost dangerously foolish, “ Oh Nightmare, I don’t know how I forgot to ask, please make sure Killer does not get into trouble.”   
Nightmare looked from her to Killer as Killer’s soul was already twitching and the liquid hate was starting to slowly stream down his face already before the mention of him getting into trouble, most likely already being affected by the crowds.   
“ got it.”   
“ Thank you.” Toriel beamed to him happily before following the group again, soon finding what Deme wanted to show Horror when they entered the kitchen, Deme taking them on top of the kitchen table.

At the sight Toriel gasped softly as Murder and Horror stared at it, stunned.  
On the platform they were on was a gloriously cooked fish that was properly gutted, skinned and beheaded, but nothing gone to waste as all bones including the head was sitting on another plate, the guts on another one as the smell of the perfectly cooked and golden fish was enough to make even people that hate fish salivate.   
“ deme…” Horror looked to Deme and found the goddess bitty watching his face for his reaction as he looked to her in surprise and barely masked delight, “ you… did this for me?”  
She nodded as she looked to it, “ I had mixed feelings about the whole ordeal, seeing as it was once a living creature… But most Ethereal bitties like me have accepted that a part of nature is to use others for food, it is something to be accepted. And why should I force you to change yourself? You are Horror, and if I am accepting you as my future mate, then I should not shy away from something that makes you, you. So I asked Void to help me learn about your culture as they told you mine, getting the fish from a fish salesman with my owner, and before the party I came early to make you this. And it is all for you, I am sorry I did not hunt for it myself and I could not fashion anything out of the bones or cook the guts, I heard the guts were bad for you.”   
“ don’t sweat it, precious.” Horror muttered to her as his eyelight was blown wide with a pupil-like heart in the center focused entirely on her like she was his whole world, it looking like cartoonish hearts should be surrounding them before Horror motioned to Murder to show the gift.   
Murder then raised the flower cup level to the table and set it down, releasing his magic and letting Horror take it from there.   
Deme looked to the new addition to the table in surprise before Horror went to the kerchief and pulled it off the flower, “ my tribute to you, deme.”   
Deme took in the jagged and sharp appearance of the flower, it honestly looking a little dangerous, but she merely went to it and motioned for the stem to bend, touching the petals as she ran her paws over the jagged holes and the tips of the petals, silent as Horror watched her, unflinching and unblinking as only Toriel really paid attention to Horror at the moment to see the small beads of magic sweat on his skull as he watched the goddess analyze his gift.   
“ Horror… This…” Deme looked back to him over her shoulder as her eyes were glassy, “ You did so well on healing it. You definitely gave it your own personal touch, I adore it.”   
She stroked the chrysanthemum tenderly before she maneuvered around the cup and pushing it to be closer to her offerings, motioning for him to eat.   
Murder and Toriel took it as their cue to leave the happy couple to be enjoy each other’s company as they hopped down on one of the numerous chairs before to the ground below to rejoin the party, the last thing Toriel hearing from them being the loud and happy rattling from an overjoyed skeleton.

Surveying through everything they noticed Nightmare lounging and eating a whole platter of cookies with Killer, not minding the dirty looks everyone was shooting them because they had stolen all the cookies and didn’t share, Nightmare sometimes flicking a cookie to the side to be caught in the mouth or leaves of the Daze Flowey Bitty, it’s happy squeaks making Toriel’s heart swell in pride of the goopy bitty, who noticed her and merely threw more at the flower as if intent on giving the air-headed flowey a _stem_ achache.   
False was on the stage, having been pulled on obviously by the Papyrus that had sung before, whom with the Undyne, played a saxophone and the piano respectively to aid False in ‘You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch’, audience members singing or dancing along.   
False was doing an amazing job honestly, Toriel’s eyes glazing over him before pinning where Void was being under the table of food, batting away a mischievous Edgy bitty from spiking the Eggnog, Flames still in the fireplace having a wonderful time with the other Grillby bitties.   
It was then she looked to Murder whom was by her side, feeling herself relax as Murder looked like he wanted to say something to her, shifting from side to side as he cast his blue and red eyes to the crowd before back to her as she smiled warmly to him.   
“ Well, everything seems to be going we-EEEEEEKKK!” 

Toriel was tackled to the ground by a much bigger being that came out of left field for her, squealing as she hit the ground, only for the bigger being to be hit off her immediately by a furious Murder and a bone attack in a mere manner of seconds.   
She laid there, stunned for a moment before she noticed that the music had stopped and all close bitties had reacted, Murder being trapped within a cage of bones and fire by other Sans Bitties and False, there being a pause before Toriel pushed herself to see what had ‘attacked her’.   
She was stunned to see a Gaster Blaster Bitty standing there on all fours, wagging their whole body as they brushed off being hit with ease and was still excited to see her.  
Toriel _knew_ this bitty.   
“ Stellini!” She pushed herself up with a smile.   
“ what?” Murder asked with dark eyesockets, Toriel motioning to False and the other bitties that everything was fine, there being a few moments before Murder’s cage disappeared, leaving him able to make his way over to her as the Gaster Blaster bitty started to shift and pop with their bones rearranging at will.   
“ Murder, this is the bitty whom gave me this scarf!” Toriel motioned to the very scarf that had Murder protecting her in the first place still fastened around her neck.   
“ YES, IT IS I, THE GREAT STELLINI!” The Papyrus bitty laughed as he was nearly finished transforming, the spikes in his skull smoothing over as he struck an almost heroic pose, Murder noticing that he had a red scarf on as the music in the background was starting up again while Toriel noticed Killer and Nightmare had teleported much closer.   
“ are we sure about that? he’s still got his scarf…”   
“ I AM THE COMPANION OF A BITTY STORE OWNER, WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF THESE, EVEN IF I GAVE HER MY ORIGINAL! NYEH HEH HEH!” Stellini laughed jovially as Murder watched him before grabbing his knit hood and tugged it a little more down over his face as he murmured something, however because Stellini was technically part-animal and right in front of Murder rather than to the side of him like Tori, he was the only one whom had heard it, “ TORIEL WAS SENT TO THE WRONG HOUSE? OH MY, I WAS NEVER INFORMED OF THIS!”   
Toriel looked to Murder in alarm as Murder went rigid for almost a minute before turning his head fully away from Toriel as he muttered something else that made Stellini smile.   
“ OH? NYEH HEH HEH! YOU ARE VERY WELCOME! OF COURSE THE GREAT STELLINI HAS AN OWNER THAT CAN MESS UP SO SPECTACULARLY!”   
Toriel blushed as it was obvious the conversation was about her and that Murder must have been saying something very positive to garner a positive reaction from Stellini, jolting when she finally noticed Deme and Horror had rejoined the party.

“ Oh!”   
“ Hello Toriel, forgive us for startling you, but the music stopped and everyone stopped speaking, what happened?”   
“ IT WAS MY FAULT DEME, I WAS OVER EXCITED SEEING MY GOOD FRIEND TORIEL, AND I FRIGHTENED THE POOR MURDER BITTY WITH MY WARM GREETING!” Stellini waved a hand with a smile as if to dismiss the situation, “ BUT IT IS OF NO MATTER, HE HAS A FINE SWING THOUGH!”   
“ lucky he didn’t dust ya.” Nightmare muttered blankly as he sipped on some of the eggnog.   
“ wouldn’t that have been fun though?” Killer pouted.   
Everyone stared at Killer blankly for a few seconds before they snapped to Stellini, trying to move on as fast as possible.   
“ Well I am happy the situation has been dealt with.” Deme answered with a twitching smile.   
The music ended from False and the two other bitties before the Papyrus walked to the stand, “ THANK YOU FOR COMING EVERYONE! WE WILL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK, SO WHOEVER WISHES TO COME UP AND PERFORM IS WELCOME TO DO SO!”   
The three of them made their way off stage and walked over to the group with a purpose.   
“ Is everything alright? This punk wasn’t tryna actually dust you was he Stell?” The Undyne spoke as she grabbed the shoulder of Stellini.   
“ NYEH HEH HEH HEH! NOTHING OF THE SORT, IT WAS A BIT OF A MISCALCULATION ON MY PART!”   
“ IF YOU SAY SO PUPPY-ME.” The Classic Papyrus spoke as Murder seemed a little dazed with how many bitties were in the vicinity that were _not a Sans_.  
“ BUT WHERE ARE MY MANNERS? I AM THE GREAT RED VELVET! ONE OF THE HOSTS OF THIS PARTY!” The Classic Papyrus known now as Red Velvet offered his hand to Toriel, shaking with great enthusiasm.   
The Undyne took a step closer to Toriel as well, thus Deme and Horror as Horror’s eyesocket widened and he tensed, reaching behind and through his shirt to grasp his axe-plushie that was tied to his insides again, Deme noticing the change and slipping her paw in his hand to ground him.   
“ And I’m Undyne, the other host to-”   
“ SPRINKLES!” Everyone jolted at the word as Red Velvet turned to the Undyne, “ PLEASE, THE OWNER PUT IN SUCH EFFORT TO GIVE YOU THE NAME, DO NOT BE ASHAMED.”   
“ sprinkles?” Horror blinked, his fixed smile widening.   
“ Come on Velvet, you know I hate that name!”   
“ your name’s sprinkles?” Horror started to giggle, pushing his face then into Deme’s arm, “ heheeheheh, ahahahahahaha- oh my gods, sprinkles- Snrk! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Horror started to laugh before laughter joined from Nightmare and Killer, Murder soon dissolving to it as well, their laughter making Deme and Toriel cover their mouths as well, knowing it was not funny but laughter was contagious.  
“ IT IS NOT NICE TO MAKE FUN OF SOMEONE’S NAME HORROR BITTY.” Red Velvet scolded them as Sprinkles was flushed in embarrassment in a horrified way, it was like her worst nightmare came true, marching up to Horror.   
“ Hey Punk! Stop laughing at me!” She snarled as she was about to grab at him, only for all laughter to cease as Deme snatched him and pulled him back instead, “ D-Deme?”   
“ Sprinkles… Undyne… I know you are upset, but if you know anything about Horrors and how they work with Undynes, you should know touching him is a bad idea. Please get ahold of yourself and take a step back from this situation.”   
Horror chuckled then after Deme spoke, “ c’mon deme, there should be no _topping_ her, let her go ahead and _bake_ my day.” He winked his empty socket with the other one glowing brightly, Killer nearly trembling in excitement as he leaned forward, Undyne noticing that before looking to Horror and shifting from offense to defense.   
“ Fine.”   
There was a small, almost deafening silence between the group in the middle of the party.  
“ HOW LONG HAVE YOU ALL BEEN IN THAT HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ANYWAYS?” Red Velvet finally spoke, trying to break the silence as he looked over the group of Sans’.   
Murder raised his hand to show he was the oldest there, “ about two years, never reached out until now, but it seems pretty obvious why…”   
“ Speaking of which…” Toriel walked to Stellini, “ I absolutely have to talk to you about something.”   
Stellini looked from her to Murder, who stared back at him before looking to Red Velvet as permission for Stellini to leave with Tori as the two bitties joined shoulder to shoulder.   
Toriel looked back to see Killer pushing himself up in disappointment and leaving with Nightmare slowly following, Murder talking to Red Velvet and False now as Sprinkles left back to the stage, Deme and Horror breaking off once again to spend time with one another. 

“ IS THERE A PROBLEM TORIEL?” Stellini asked as he turned to her, concern etched in his features.   
“ Honestly… Yes. The home I am a part of now… Well, the Owner is a harmful and neglectful person. I… I want to remove them all from that place.”   
“ AN ABUSIVE HOME? BUT THAT SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE…” Stellini looked from her to the floor, Toriel noticing how his teeth were sharpening as he bit the edge of his phalanges, feeling like there was a story there with his reaction, but not going to pry.  
“ People have ways to slip through the cracks of security… Please, Stellini, help me remove them from this situation.”   
“ ABSOLUTELY! NO ONE DESERVES TO BE NEGLECTED AND ABUSED! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING TO STOP FOR YEARS NOW, THIS WILL BE NO DIFFERENT. TORIEL, I WILL BRING YOU THE EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO PUT THE OWNER AWAY FOR A LONG TIME… I, THE GREAT STELLINI, SHALL GET IT TO YOU HOPEFULLY BY TOMORROW.”   
“ Then please bring it to me at Deme’s home, it’s where we are going to be staying for a few days…” She then sighed and smiled, “ Thank you Stellini…”   
“ NYEHEHEHEHE! OF COURSE! WHAT KIND OF A BITTY WOULD I BE LEAVING YOU TO SUCH A FATE?” He beamed to her warmly before she reached up and started patting him on the head, scratching on the side of his skull as he melted into her hand like a puppy, contented as she noticed his still present tailbone was wagging as she giggled.   
“ Alright then… Thank you, but I think I should be going back to Murder and the others now.”   
“ I AM HAPPY YOU HAVE FOUND A MATE IN ALL OF THIS MESS, YOU TWO SEEM TO FIT VERY WELL TOGETHER!”   
Toriel felt red as she looked to him in almost alarm, “ Do… We seem like that?” She whispered as she pressed her hands onto her cheeks, willing herself to calm down.  
“ WHY YES, HE SEEMS TO BE QUITE ENAMORED WITH YOU, I AM SURPRISED YOU HAVE NOT NOTICED! BUT FEAR NOT, I- THE GREAT STELLINI, HAVE SHARPER EYES THAN ANYONE I KNOW, SO IT IS POSSIBLE HE IS ONLY OBVIOUS TO ME!” The bitty laughed as Toriel couldn’t help but give a warm smile to her old friend.  
“ I see… Well… Maybe I can ask him for a dance tonight…” She hummed and smiled as they both made their way back from another room, getting to the living room when they heard a blood-curdling scream, Toriel’s eyes immediately hitting a bitty that had large bashes in his skull and body- light of all kinds of colors spilling from the gashes as they were standing in front of Killer with Killer crumpled on the ground, his soul in their hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand Cliffhanger! 
> 
> Guess who the bitty is (Pretty Obvious I think, but do it anyways and tell me who ya think it is!) 
> 
> And if ya want to talk to the bitties yourself, ask them questions about themselves or their bitty types go on here!:   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dotchi13   
> (They won't tell you about what's going on with Killer though, that's for the next chapter X) )


	12. Transtitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone has to transition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Transition Chapter, so it's not very long, but no worries, it will be longer in the next chapter with everything else.

There was barely a reaction time for anyone before Toriel and Nightmare lashed out of nowhere, only to hit a wall of multi-colored bones of red, yellow, orange, blue, cyan, purple and green, that being what finally got Toriel to register that she was up against a Color Bitty.  
“ Let him go!” She cried out, grasping ahold of the bones as he looked to her, his magic coming from his body like flames, showing two bashes in his skull, almost the whole right side of his head gone from the cheekbone up, taking out his right eye, while the other eye was glowing multiple colors with a smaller hole on the left side of his skull present as well, there being a swipe across his chest mirroring the scar of a Geno bitty that was bleeding multi-colored magic.   
“ why? i’m only helping him.” He then looked back to Killer and gave his soul as squeeze, Toriel now realizing that Killer was not unconscious in his collapsed state as he let out a choked sob.   
“ _Get the Fuck Away from Him!_ ” Nightmare growled as his tentacles wrapped around the bones, tearing them out of the ground and throwing them at the Color, whom merely materialized more, a sickening _crack!_ of bones splintering filling the room, neither of them noticing the bitties around them all scattering or moving forward as Red Velvet, Sprinkles, False, Stellini and Deme grabbed bones and forced them out of the ground, forcing themselves in between the two bitties.   
“ Color, listen to the Bitty and let him go.” Deme ordered as Color looked from her to the others, his fingers finally letting up as Toriel noticed that the soul that was once shaped like a target was now an upside-down heart in shape, it drifting to the collapsed bitty as the Color grabbed Killer from the ground and lifted him up with almost surprising amount of physical strength. 

Nightmare couldn’t help but stare with a wide eyesocket as Killer hung meekly from the Color’s grasp, _actual tears_ streaming down his face with the black goo.   
“ _What did you do to him?!_ ” His tentacles lashed forward and wrapped around Killer, yanking his best friend to him as he hung before Nightmare like a ragdoll, “ Killer? Killer are you okay?!” Nightmare wiped at the tears as best as he could.   
“ i… it hurts nightmare… i can feel it… i can feel empathy… i can almost feel how much fear others held when i hurt them or tried to hurt them, because i could see it in their eyes…” Killer choked out another sob as Nightmare looked to Killer’s soul in alarm and reached out, grabbing it, only for Killer to give another scream at the negative emotions filling him more overwhelmingly than could happen when he didn’t feel, the emotional pain so much to him that everyone saw eyelights actually appear in a zap of light before vanishing into the inky darkness as Nightmare immediately let go and dropped him from his tentacles.   
Killer collapsed, still a mess of tears as Nightmare stared at him with wide eyes, never having garnered that response from his best friend before.   
But he would not allow the shock to scare him.   
He was not weak.  
The gooey bitty then reached for his friend again, grasping Killer by his shoulders with his own bare hands, pulling him close when he saw a flash of color and his head whipped up to see the bitty from before.   
“ Step away or I will _KILL YOU_!” He barked to the Color bitty.   
“ you could try, but do you really want to kill me and make this more painful to him?”   
Nightmare held his crying friend even more protectively, his freed tentacles writhing in fury with his eye glowing bright cyan in his rage, but he tried to grit his teeth, “ who even _are_ you?”   
“ my owner calls me lighter.”   
False stepped to them from the side, looking a little timid, but Red Velvet and Stellini were holding back Sprinkles from going over and making the situation worse as False cleared his throat.   
“ I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask you three to leave.”   
“ fine, this place sucks anyways.” Nightmare snapped, having regained himself finally as he looked to Toriel, Murder and Horror.   
Toriel immediately joined his side with Murder quick to follow, Horror looking to Deme before them, scowling as he wasn’t happy with having to leave, but that was just the way it looked like it was going to happen as he followed after them at a slower pace. 

“ Is he okay?” Toriel asked as soon as they left the door.   
“ he’s… alive.” Nightmare muttered as he brushed away his friend’s tears with a tentacle, his arms full with Killer whom gave a shudder and gripped Nightmare’s gooey jacket even tighter.   
“ What can we… do in this situation?”   
Nightmare looked to Toriel before down to Killer again, obviously not having an answer.   
“ you could give him to me.” Lighter spoke as Killer and Toriel jolted, not having noticed him, but he was beside Horror and both Nightmare and Murder were on high alert for threats so they knew he was there.  
“ i told you if you come near us again i will kill you, what part of that did you not understand?” Nightmare scowled, picking up his pace in walking which the Color effortlessly caught up with, walking past the others.  
“ you nightmares are so selfish, only thinking of yourself and your relationships with killers, wanting to feel good about yourselves- like you have a purpose in life- not considering how killers tell themselves that they are fine without emotions, but when they finally get a taste of actual emotions they know they aren’t fine.  
they all want to get better and you nightmares are only a bandaid on a gash that needs better treatment.”   
The color dodged the tentacles puncturing the ground where he once stood, “ you’re only getting defensive because you know i’m right. if you decide to come looking for me, I’ll be all the way down the street to the right of your home.”  
Lighter then teleported away to who knows where.   
“ good riddance.” Nightmare hissed, looking down to Killer whom looked so tired and miserable, “ don’t worry killer, we’ll get you back to your old self in no time… some truly awful nightmares will fix you right up.”   
Murder and Toriel looked to each other at that, it sounding like Nightmare was trying to convince himself more than Killer as he carried him along.   
“ If you ever need help Nightmare, we’re here.” Toriel offered as Nightmare looked from her to Murder and then Horror, Horror obviously not much caring for the plight of Killer for many reasons from the past. 

“ at least two of you are.” He muttered before they finally got to Deme’s home seeing as they would be living there while the Owner was gone.   
Nightmare took Killer to their flowers, but did not put him inside, not wanting to separate the both of them as Killer gripped the front of his shirt just under his soul, looking to Horror.   
“ how did you do it? how did you kill other living beings and feel no remorse?”   
“ you say that like i wasn’t exhausting every possible option before i took lives.” Horror muttered as he went to wait on the top of Deme’s house, Killer then looking to Murder.   
“ and you?”   
“ why ask me when i hate myself?” Murder asked, his hands in his pockets.  
“ good point.” Killer muttered bitterly before Nightmare sat beside him and looked to him.   
“ ready killer?”   
“ as i’ll ever be i guess.” Killer muttered as he felt a weird feeling in his gut, but laid down beside Nightmare on the platform anyways, only peeping an eye open when a concerned Toriel gave them pillows which were begrudgingly accepted so they didn’t lay down with absolutely nothing, drifting off together. 

“ You think Killer is going to be okay?” Toriel asked as she looked to Murder only for Horror to answer her.   
“ he’s fine in every way except emotionally, which is something that bastard needed to be educated in anyways. it doesn’t matter if he stays this way, at least he got a taste.” Horror stated clearly from his position at the top of the house.  
“ well he’s not wrong, killer needed some educating, though it will certainly be odd seeing the new killer for the short time he will be like this.”   
Toriel nodded as Killers could only be turned into Reformed Killers when there is prolonged exposure to a Color- and if a Nightmare was not close by, as Nightmares had a habit of wrecking Killer’s emotional progress with their presence, and all three bitties were certain that there was no way Nightmare was going to let go of his best friend, Horror going to wait on the other three bitties while Toriel and Murder discussed about how they might handle Killer. 

However, the faith they had in that was shaken when a few minutes later Toriel started hearing noises as she looked over to Nightmare and Killer, watching as the tentacled bitty was sitting on his knees beside his still sleeping friend, a purple mist rising from Killer as it drifted to Nightmare for his tentacles to grasp and continually feed into his mouth.   
“ _omnomnomnomnomnomnom…_ ” Nightmare murmured as he ate with the occasional slurping sound as if eating noodles.   
The scene would have been cute if the implications of what this meant weren’t so heartbreaking as Nightmare physically ate the horrific dreams plaguing his friend.   
Eventually the purple mist stopped flowing from Killer, and Nightmare chewed on the purple mist before giving a hard swallow, looking down as his phalanges dug into his shorts. 

“ Nightmare…” Toriel whispered as she sat on her knees beside him, her paw being placed on his back as Nightmare’s goo melted in large waves down his body and his tentacles did not writhe, but twisted, digging into the platform and and dragging along to show how upset he was.  
“ he… i… i gave him a typical nightmare to try and ease him into it… i put two people on a platform and he has to choose who lives and who dies… but he merely stared at them and openly wondered how they must be feeling about all of this because even in dreamscape he felt… weighted.   
He said he didn’t know how he felt, just that there was more weight to it than he had ever been given before, especially when he would usually let both on the platform die.   
i tried changing the dreams to try and fit with how he was feeling but… even _he_ does not understand his own feelings, he’s never had them before… he was getting so overwhelmed i had to leave and do this…”   
He then looked to Toriel from his singular left eye, his smile having melted off his face long ago, “ i know it’s different but… do you think that… the color was right? i mean, have you ever met a reformed killer before?”   
“ No, Killers are so rare they weren’t in my adoption center, and even then they can only become Reformed should the owner decide they should be.” She answered honestly.   
There was a prolonged silence before there was the sound of the other bitties entering the home, Deme striding over still in her candy cane green striped dress. 

“ How is he?” She asked, looking more curious than worried as Nightmare looked to her.   
“ he’s fine.”  
“ Then why are you sitting beside him like he’s dying?”   
The question seemed to stab Nightmare right through as he looked back to Killer, Toriel looking to Deme instead  
“ I know you are not on the best of terms with them Deme, but please…”   
“ I am not trying to mock him for Killer being hurt, Toriel, but Nightmare looks like Killer is dying right before his eyes…”   
Toriel looked back and noticed that it was the case as Nightmare’s eyelight looked dull and the look on his face portrayed no delight at his friend being like this, really looking like he was mourning a friend that had disappeared.   
“ Nightmare…?”   
“ i’m gonna give him the option to go to the color or stay here. toriel... if he chooses to go…”   
Toriel wrapped her arm around him, “ I promise we will be there for you.”   
He became rigid before his eyelight glanced to the side, his tentacles slowly wrapping around her in response to accept the comfort, “ yeah…”   
Murder slipped beside Toriel to wait as Horror watched them before joining Deme and the others to ask how it went with them trying to smooth over everything they did, Deme assuring him that everything went fine but there would have to be ground rules from the hosts the next time they decided to go to a party.  
Murder looked to Nightmare, “ how do you think that killer’s going with the color?”   
“ the only person who can help him identify the shit he’s feeling is the color, he spoke as if he has worked with killers, i noticed. so he would be the most obvious place.” 

That sounded fair enough as the three of them waited until Killer was finally roused from sleep, garnering the attention of the others as he merely pushed himself up and looked to Nightmare.  
“ do you wanna stay here or do you want to go to the color?” Nightmare asked before saying anything else.   
There was a tense silence as everyone there watched him.   
“ i want to go and see the color. i can’t live like this.” There was the bluntness of Killer, but there was a sadness as he watched his best friend.   
“ okay, then we’ll take you there.” Nightmare stood and shoved his hands into his pockets, making his way off the platform.   
“ Now?” Toriel asked, confused as it was well-past midnight, “ But isn’t it too late?”   
“ it’s never too late for shit like this.” Nightmare growled as he waited at the edge, Killer merely getting up to follow him as Toriel slowly pushed herself up, Murder by her side as they followed, not going to miss this as Horror watched after them before slowly peeling off from his group and joining them, still all clad in their Christmas clothes as they went to the house on the far right at the very end of the street. 

And just like Nightmare expected, there sat the Color in the window of his home, asleep and wrapped in a blanket, but his magic was still bright and flashy, his flames of magic swirling with many colors, a beacon for them to come.  
Nightmare wrapped his tentacles around everyone and in the blink of an eye he was at the window, knocking violently as Lighter’s eye opened, looking to them before standing, teleporting to the other side of the window.   
“ so why are they here?” Lighter asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.   
“ emotional support.” He then let go of Killer, “ if i hear you hurt him I’ll break your spine.”   
“ well i _am very attached to it_ so i suppose i won’t be hurting him any time soon.” Lighter chuckled with Murder and Horror, Toriel feeling too much of the emotional weight on Nightmare to find much of this funny as Lighter offered a hand to Killer, “ come on, let’s sleep off tonight and discuss some things in the morning.”   
“... alright.” Killer then looked back to Nightmare, then Toriel and the others, “ see ya.”   
Then they teleported inside and Nightmare watched the color lead his best friend away to a place to stay, it nearing almost morning already.   
“ c’mon nightmare, with your magic and mine we can teleport to deme’s place in one go.” Murder offered as Nightmare closed his eye and nodded.   
“ sure.”   
And in a second, they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny thing to note when I finished this chapter my editor threatened me I had to start the next chapter soon or they were going to hurt me X)   
> Fun times. 
> 
> Also, to note, if you guys want to talk to my bitties you should go here:   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dotchi13 
> 
> And you can address the 'New Killer', but you have to address him specifically and I will warn you he will not be good at answering anything until the next chapter comes out.


	13. The Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after Killer and Nightmare are separated for the first time.

The next morning Nightmare woke up with a gasp of air, his one eye snapped open as his mind traveled a mile a minute, the goo gushing over his body while his eye glowed bright cyan before he noticed he was not alone.   
Within his now coiling and writhing tentacles was Toriel and Murder, both of them looking a little jarred from sleep as Murder clung to Toriel’s dress to keep the two close, Nightmare also noticing a tentacle wrapped around the ankle of Horror whom was sleeping against the wall of Deme’s house.   
He recalled then when he slowed down how when they got home Toriel had announced they were all sleeping together and had formed a sleeping pile.   
A sleeping pile of bitties- either on top of one another or very close together- was something that spoke to the base instincts of most bitties.   
Because of their small stature, the only way to make it out in the wild was to travel in large groups, and sleeping all close together was pinnacle of survival and primal comfort, something Nightmare needed sorely with his best friend gone, though it was surprising to him that Horror deigned himself a part of all of it. 

“ Morning Sleepybones, How are you feeling?” Toriel asked as she rubbed at her eyes.   
“ can we not ask that question?” Nightmare muttered as he stood and set the two down on their feet as Murder merely slumped against Toriel when the support of the tentacle went away.   
The goat monster gave a sleepy giggle before picking up Murder and placing him on her hip, allowing him to doze more as he snuggled into her soft hanging ear, Toriel sleepily giving him a nuzzle while still muddled, both very affectionate when they just wake up, though Nightmare finally noticed with a shock that Murder was _actually sleeping_ when Nightmare wasn’t in a restrictive bubble to stop his powers.  
“ Alright, we don’t have to ask that question, shall we head to breakfast?”   
Nightmare nodded slowly and Toriel walked to Horror and picked the bitty up as well. 

Horror immediately bit the scarf-bow, chewing on it in his sleep as she smiled warmly with her eyes closed as if trying to gather her bearings, starting to walk before tentacles wrapped around her with gooey skeleton arms as a third bitty much heavier than the other two joined them on her back, but Tori didn’t mind as she continued to walk around with the two dozing skeletons and one whom refused to let her look back at him as she entered the elevator off the platform, it dropping down to the ground and letting them off as Nightmare smelled breakfast. 

He spotted Flames and Deme hard at work in the kitchen as they were making a not-so-traditional breakfast with Pan de Yuca rolls, Omelettes and Orange Juice with a side of Palmier cookies, which were crunchy and flaky pastries.   
The breads and pastries were proudly made by Flames with Deme having made the omelettes and Void putting oranges through a little press he made himself to make the Orange Juice.   
“ Morning everyone.” Toriel hummed with a smile as she turned her back to a chair and let Nightmare slide off into it, some of his goo still sticking to her back to be washed off later before going to another and carefully dropping Horror into it for Deme to tend to, putting Murder in his own chair.   
Murder leaned back with his hood falling back slightly to show more of his face, burying his skull back into her stomach with a hum, not saying anything as Toriel tenderly rubbed his skull.   
Deme came to Horror, awakening him with an affectionate nuzzle and a kiss, setting a largely stuffed omelette before him.   
Nightmare looked to his side with only his eyelight as if to see Killer making a face at all the lovey-dovey-ness of it all like he usually did, greeted with nothing before he found a mug being placed before him filled with Orange juice from Deme, the mug saying ‘7 Days Without A Pun Makes One Weak.’

He looked to it before her as she stared back at him.   
“ i’m gonna need something stronger than that to make me feel better.”   
Deme’s lips wobbled, trying to keep off the smile from the joke that might come from asking what he meant that statement to, the pun or the drink.  
Nightmare watched her before looking back down to it, curling a hand around the mug and gulping it down as Flames set the table with food, Toriel finally waking up for the morning as Horror started dozing again as soon as his plate was finished, only for Deme to go and load his plate with more before finally settling down herself to eat, Nightmare looking to Flames.   
“ hey flames, willin’ to stoke me with some card games?”   
Flames looked to him through his usual fogged glasses before he nodded as Toriel gave him a warm smile.   
“ Mind if I join in?”   
“ sure.” Nightmare waved a tentacle dismissively, not caring to raise a hand, “ flames would probably appreciate not being alone with me anyways.”   
“ ………………………………………………………. What makes you say that?” Flames asked finally after he finished his Pan de Yuca.   
“ ‘cause of what i allowed killer to do to you. i didn’t stop it and that’s why you’re distant with me except when we play cards.”   
Flames shook his head, “ I don’t care about that like Deme does……………………   
Because of what you are capable of, Deme thinks you should have a handle on him all the time……………………………………………….... but you are not a god like others are, you can’t do that.   
And while I am wary of Killer……………………………………... I am not afraid of you.”   
“ then why are you so distant?” The gooey bitty asked, genuinely confused.   
“ Because you and Killer are tightly wound together…………………………………… you’re barely ever out of the same room without one another and you do everything together, not only that…………………………….. but your menacing demeanor scares Void, and I’m around Void plenty of times myself…………………………………………. it all just adds up.  
……………………………. But I am not bothered by the thought of having a lone card game with you.”

“ Then how about you two play a few rounds by yourselves and I can catch up later?” Toriel offered with a smile as Flames nodded.  
“ afterwards i wanna talk to you and murder, nightmare.” Horror muttered past the crunching of his Palmier pastries.  
Murder gave a thumbs up and Nightmare perked a brow, wondering why there would be an all Sans Bitty meeting, but deciding to shrug it off as Deme offered him some more food, his tentacles grabbing what he wanted as she avoided his look to her.   
Looks as though she was thinking on what Flames was saying and feeling bad.   
‘ well whatever.’ Nightmare thought as he crammed a flaky crunchy pastry into his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Killer woke up nearly the same way as Nightmare did, only this time he was alone.   
He found himself in a guest bedroom his size as he looked out the window, finding the bitty home was in the living room of the house before he turned and left the room, slow in walking.   
He smelled food and heard the clatter of things being moved, looking at the pictures along the halls and found the Color Bitty, Lighter, standing with other Killer Bitties whom were smiling genuinely with their souls showing to be all upside down hearts, there being writings of thanks at the corner of each of them from bitties obviously happy to feel something than Hatred for other beings or amusement from the harm of others.   
Killer instantly felt a disconnect from them for some reason as he felt at his chest where his Soul floated there innocently enough before the emotion of self-doubt showed up and started crushing him.   
Maybe the Color did it wrong?   
Maybe something went wrong or there was something wrong with him?   
Killer scowled and tried to wave away the annoying thoughts.   
He found Hate, he recognized it and clung to it.   
He _hated_ the self-doubt, he knew there was nothing wrong with him, he was fine damn it!   
He heard humming from a deep voice and smelled sweet bread, immediately catching his attention.   
Killer had never told anyone, but he had a large sweet tooth as he walked along, feeling something well up inside him thinking of eating something sweet, it feeling like something akin to amusement, but more… pure?   
‘ fuck this is irritating.’ Killer scowled slightly before he finally got to the kitchen. 

He found himself facing the back of either an Edgy or a Cherry bitty that was out of his puffy coat and in a red turtleneck with an apron tied around him, _Whisk Taker_ being on the front as the words were underlined with a sown in whisk.  
He wondered which bitty it was, Cherries shying and crying a lot while Edgy’s were aggressive and swore, _a lot_.   
He quickly got his answer when the bitty looked to him, showing the crack over his left eyesocket, “ mornin’ mother fucker.”  
Well Killer wasn’t going to let that sentiment go unrewarded, “ morning ugly. whatcha got there?”   
“ heh, much more of an asshole than the others, huh? usually the others would just cuss me back, not take a _crack_ at my face.”   
Killer felt the amusement bubble inside him at that as the Edgy looked to the food he made on the stove.  
“ heard ya were due to come in last night from light, so i made us some raisin bread.” 

Killer instantly felt the change inside him from that amused feeling to irritation again, “ you’re not supposed to put fruit in sweet things.”   
“ and who says ya made the rules, jackass?” The Edgy grinned before the oven beeped as if to agree with them, the Edgy pulling out bread rolls that were obviously filled with Chocolate, “ luckily for you, i agree with that statement, the raisin bread’s more for light than anything else. he’s headin’ down.”   
“ how can you tell- oh.”   
The Edgy looked over his shoulder with a grin and a wink as he tapped on his sternum, showing that he and Lighter have a soul bond, so the Edgy was able to tell if his loved one was close, there being a few beats as Killer made a face before changing the subject.

“ what’s your name anyways? though ugly suits you clearly.”  
“ heh, you’re a real fucker, know that? everyone calls me red.” He pointed to himself with a spatula before using it to take off the rolls and setting them into separate baskets, motioning to Killer for him to speak.  
“ name’s killer.”   
Red snorted as he set out the rolls and a huge pot of oatmeal with brown sugar in a bowl and fruits on the side, “ your owner ain’t very original, huh?”   
“ they didn’t care very much.” Killer merely shrugged.  
“ so i heard from False and the others.” Red rolled his eyelights.  
“ morning.” Lighter called as he showed up, pulling out a chair and sitting down as Red threw a spoon at his head, Lighter catching it with a practiced ease, likely from the Edgy throwing things at him before, “ thank you dear.”   
Red looked to him with a red face, anger washed across it for being called such a thing in front of a guest as he wrenched off his apron and grabbed a raisin bread roll, pitching it at him, “ asshole!”   
It merely bounced off Lighter’s head, who grinned lazily as he caught the falling roll, biting into it and he looked to Killer, “ so welcome to the house, eat up, we’ve got things to do after this.”   
“ fine, fine, can you just make me stop feeling like this?” Killer asked as he turned his whole self to Lighter.   
“ ah, the guilt?”   
“ no shit sherlock.” Both Killer and Red spoke at the same time, making Lighter snort with a grin, offering his hand up as he took another bite of the roll, Killer immediately letting the powerful bitty hold his soul as Lighter gave it a squeeze, Killer immediately feeling emotional pain shoot through him. 

“ _fuck!_ ”   
“ if you want the guilt to go away you have to let me work through this.” Lighter lectured as he gave the soul another squeeze.   
“ _it’s not a fuckin’ stress ball you moron!_ ” Killer screamed, tears streaming down his face with the black goo from his sockets, slamming his hand hard on the table.   
“ looks like we’re working past guilt into blinding rage, let’s try and keep going with this, red make sure you’re ready.” Lighter informed his loved one before squeezing again as Killer let out a shriek, feeling an active hatred he had never experienced so actively before except when facing Owner flashing through him as he looked to the Edge and Color, zoning in on them and throwing bone attacks at them.

However if those two were anything, they were Sans’, dodging them with a frustratingly smooth grace as Lighter gave his soul another squeeze.   
Soon the hatred bled away to the lightest feeling he could ever experience, becoming nearly delirious now as he stopped attacking, his vision swimming as he felt something bubble in his chest before coming out as a laugh, but this one wasn’t saturated with amusement from futile attempts to escape or fight back.   
“ what is this?” Killer giggled as he melted into the table, feeling almost fuzzy. 

“ you’re experiencing bliss.” Lighter pointed out as the Edge took a seat back down again and ate another roll, their eyelights on the other bitty.   
“ it feels amazing… nightmare should have some…” Killer nearly slurred as he laid his head down and basked in the feeling, his feet tapping rapidly though as if trying to ride out the emotional wave by burning off energy.   
“ killer, you have to understand if you want to feel like this most of the time you have to give up your friendship with nightmare.”   
Killer merely looked to Lighter hazily, no eyelights present to show how unfocused he was, “ heh, that’s what you think.”   
“ hey dipstick, it’s how it works, nightmares ruin all your progress by bein’ around ya, ya already spent a short amount of time with him and ya should’ve gotten it through your thick skull it’s better to do yourself a favor.” The Edge answered while eating his Oatmeal. 

Lighter jolted at the feeling of the Soul shifting in his hand as the bliss drained out of him, Killer feeling better than he did before the soul squeezing, like he was leveled out as he felt the irritation from Red not understanding.   
“ better for me, sure, but only in the short term. i still got my asshole of an owner that’ll come looking for me, and i’m not leaving nightmare alone with that fucker with only those pansies being around him!”  
“ from what we gathered from stellini there won’t be much of a problem when the owner finally comes back, if all goes well, you would be fine to stay here because your owner will go away, and nightmare will find a better home without having to take you back to what you were before.”   
Killer looked down to his plate as he thought about what was going on inside him when he thought of his past self. 

He didn’t know much more than what was positive and negative, but he did not feel much negative emotions when he looked back on himself, as he did before when he was being overwhelmed with grief and sadness.   
Sure, he felt incredible guilt at taking the lives of animals and quite aggressively trying to harm bitties such as Flames, but he stood by everything else that he did and most of his opinions on others and how he felt about himself.   
He still felt that Deme, Flames and Void were in most ways uninteresting to him, and that things had gotten a lot more sickeningly sweet since Toriel had come around.   
The feeling that the courting and romance going on was definitely not to his tastes, he also thought that Murder was still fun to mess around with and that the most amusement he got out of his past days was either messing with Horror during dinner time or spending time with Nightmare and having fun in dreams with him.  
“ i get the feeling that though you assholes have dealt with killers before, you’re in for a surprise.” He then stood, barely having touched his food, “ let’s get going lighter, we’ve got some things to work out together.”

Lighter watched him with interest before standing and shoving his hands in his pockets, licking away the crumbs stuck to his teeth.   
“ sounds like a plan.”   
The colorful bitty then placed his teeth against Red’s skull in a kiss with a soft _clack_ , “ don’t wait up for me dear.”   
“ dumbass.” Red muttered before tugging him down and giving him a kiss back right under the jaw before letting him go, Lighter chuckling as Killer was already up and heading out of the room with the powerful bitty slowly striding after him. 

Killer stopped at the front of the bitty house just before the front door, Lighter brushing past him and opening it, turning immediately to the left, showing a staircase at the corner of the left side of the house that sharply wound around the corner.  
Killer reluctantly followed before he found that there was an Observatorium of sorts on the top of Lighter’s house and that there was a window behind the house so that the tower would look directly at the sky, feeling something akin to anticipation bubbling inside him as there was barely a Sans known who wasn’t fascinated by the night sky.   
“ no need to get all _starry-eyed_ over this, we’re only using this for our own purposes.” Lighter chuckled as he stepped hard down on a button, not taking his hands out of his pockets as the door opened, “ the gaster bitty you know, void, helped red make this as the final stage of our courting.” 

Killer felt his brow-bones raise, not knowing how such a shy and shaky bitty could be around someone as crass as Red, but he supposed he should maybe give the goopy bitty some credit as they two walked through and the doors closed behind them, Lighter’s colorful flames lighting up the room with dazzling colors, even though Killer was not that impressed by the bitty’s looks.   
Lighter then sat down on the floor criss-cross applesauce and looked to Killer.   
“ alright, sit down, this is gonna take a while. i’m gonna take your soul and show you all the emotions, defining all of them.   
when we’re done we’re going to look through your feelings for the people in your life. you’ve known how you should feel in a way, your soul knows what feelings you should have for bitties, and fills in the blanks now from what you were once incapable of feeling.”   
Killer nodded as he already felt more than merely hatred, boredom and amusement from the others, they obviously meant more to him than that, negatively or positively.  
He sat across from Lighter and nodded, “ alright.”   
Lighter reached over and took his soul again, holding the upside down heart and his fingers started to glow with multi-colored magic,   
“ then let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it hilarious that after I read this to my sister she started giggling and when I asked her what was up she said she found it funny that after first meeting Lighter- him seeming all badass what with him holding a soul and blocking attacks he wasn't even paying attention to, and then when we finally get a look into him in home life he gets beaned in the head with a raisin roll by his mate and isn't even fazed X)  
> She also thinks that Red is Fabulous, which I agree with on a level X3 
> 
> Anyways if you guys want to, go on the tumblr here to talk to the bitties, New Killer is now emotionally stable enough to answer clear questions and there's a New Year's Eve and Day event where you guys can talk to Stellini, Lighter and Red!   
> Check it here:   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dotchi13


	14. Getting Things Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifts are gotten, the bitties do something bad, and things are made clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Editor is gone this weekend, but I'm putting this out anyways, if there are mistakes they will be righted when the Weekend is over, just to let you all know!

A few hours had passed and it was around lunch time that Nightmare had finished playing cards with Flames.  
They were pretty evenly matched with the exception of Flames having a few more tricks up his sleeves, so Nightmare found himself on the losing side, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be too upset with Flames considering how down Nightmare was feeling in, getting up and making his way finally to find Horror to get this over with.  
Horror was hanging outside with Deme as she grew more food for him, the two of them sharing more food puns as they talked about what would be done for dinner that night.  
They looked to Nightmare when he arrived, Deme immediately looking away from him, the guilt still weighing her before looking to Horror with a soft warmth, giving him a kiss on his right temple beside his empty eyesocket and standing, “ I’ll get Murder for you to discuss what you needed to talk about.”  
She left as Horror looked to Nightmare. 

“ so… do you know where killer got his shard?”  
“ obviously, but why are we bringing him up?” Nightmare felt irritation rise from the mention of the sore subject.  
“ because we’re going there with murder.” Horror asserted as Murder popped onto the scene, hands in his pockets.  
“ going where?”  
“ where killer got his mirror shard that he used to attack toriel and me.” Horror answered as he fiddled with his plushie axe.  
“ why?”  
“ because i need something from there, nightmare will lead us and if there’s any trouble there’s the three of us.” Horror answered as he twirled his axe plushie by the handle.

“ guess i have nothing better to do.” Nightmare shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pockets with his tentacles twisting in a slightly irritated fashion, Horror gave a nod and looked to Murder, whose eyes were back on the house where Toriel was inside before he gave a nod, the three setting off with Nightmare to lead them to the back of Owner’s house where the owner threw all the recycle through their window to the backyard as bottles of dried alcohol, boxes, wooden planks, and other such trash was thrown out.  
“ wow… _what a dump_.” Murder joked as the other two snorted.  
“ it’s definitely gotten worse since killer and i were here.” Nightmare agreed as he walked forward first, noticing scuttling in the shadows as his single eye narrowed, “ welp, looks as though we’re not alone.”  
“ whatever, ‘m gettin’ a gift for Deme and no one’s stoppin’ me.” Horror stuffed his axe into his ribcage and then pulled out something in its place that made Murder and Nightmare balk a bit. 

“ you brought _a cleaver_?” Nightmare asked as he looked from it to Horror, whom merely gave a big grin as he placed it on his shoulder, it giving off a beautiful shine as Nightmare’s tentacles recoiled from the memory of something looking close to that cutting off one of them for it to grow back later.  
“ yeah, looks good doesn’t it? flames gave it to me.” Horror flicked the blade, it giving a glorious _ting!_ , “ sharpened it to perfection for me and void gave it the special shine for this mission, i’ll be givin’ it back afterwards.”  
“ how did they know you needed something like this?”  
“ told them i was going back around my home and they told me to take this, maybe they know what’s lurkin’ around here.” Horror gave a chuckle and strode forward, his red eyelight illuminating in the darkness he melted into as Murder followed not long after, Nightmare looking around to the surrounding garbage before giving a sigh and walking in.  
In just a few steps a creaky old music box from deep inside the trash heap started to play.  
“ looks like it’s not just owner that was throwing stuff out here.” Murder remarked with some amusement as Horror barked out a dry laugh, the three of them ignoring the attempt to scare them off and kept walking along.

They got a good distance before Nightmare began to notice the similar labels from recycling that him and Killer had encountered, before fresh trash covered what had been once tread, remembering how excited his best friend was to rummage for a weapon.  
Killer tried to levitate and smash bottles for glass shards, but it was so loud the one time he did so that Owner had actually peeked through their curtains, thankfully both bitties ducking out of the way before they were discovered. 

No shards were sharp enough or thin enough from the salvage for Killer to comfortably wrap his phalanges around, and there was no way they could shatter a bottle again without Owner doing something about it, so they kept searching and searching until Nightmare found what for a brief moment looked like a puddle of silver and sunlight, only to reveal itself as a fractured mirror that was broken to pieces, reflecting the sunlight into his eyelight.  
The look on Killer’s face when they found the place…  
Well, he had no way to feel joy, but the way hate was pouring out of his eyesockets like rivers with the smile on his face stretched to its absolute limit, Nightmare knew his friend was very satisfied with the result as he tested out the shards of mirror before finding the absolute perfection piece to attack others.  
Before it was shattered by Horror.  
Nightmare paused, and it was then he noticed that he was staring at the place where the mirror pieces were once with Murder and Horror staring at him.  
“ nightmare?” Murder asked, blinking at the spaced-out male.  
“ _what do you want?_ ” Nightmare found himself growling before his tentacles dug into the ground, upset at being interrupted in his memories of the past.  
Murder however wasn’t fazed.  
“ why did you stop?” He merely asked, Nightmare’s eyelight turning from his fellow adoptee to the ground where there was once the mirror. 

“ because it was here.” He muttered as he walked to the ground where thin shards once were, it being lucky the bitties weren’t made out of flesh to be stuck with the small glass bits left behind, even though a few glued themselves to Nightmare’s slippers, slipping harmlessly into the goo.  
“ _was_?” Horror asked, his wide grin tight as he drummed his phalanges on the handle of the cleaver, “ well then we’ll just have to look for it. it shouldn’t have gone far.”  
“ can’t you find something different?” Nightmare asked, looking to him.  
“ where exactly?” Horror hooked his fingers into his right socket, “ ‘m not stealing shit from deme’s house and takin’ something from our house isn’t worth owner takin’ it out on us. i’m gonna keep lookin’.”  
Horror then turned and looked to see if there was a small trail of mirror fragments as Nightmare watched after him.  
“ taking it out on _us_ huh?” Nightmare asked as he stared after Horror, “ didn’t know he cared that much about us.”  
Murder stretched his arms, a pop sounding from his spine.  
“ lotta things changed when tori showed up and stopped our vicious attacking of one another.” Murder grinned widely to him before putting his hands behind his head and walking after Horror, Nightmare’s goo melting faster as he grit his teeth.  
He had to admit that Murder was right, but as his hand gripped the front of his shirt he knew that not all changes were good as he followed after the two when Horror picked up a trail and started leading them off to the area the fractured pieces were taken.

“ oh just great.” Nightmare muttered as they noticed the webs, getting closer and closer to where the smear of glass had pointed, the worn path brushed clean by now.  
Horror hummed and drummed his phalanges on the handle of the cleaver, as if dying to use it on something as he strode forward with a purpose.  
Soon they came upon the nest, filled with coins and shiny things, the mirror being tied together almost as if not fractured, leaning against a wall made out of a broken cooler as Horror walked to it, ignoring the rest of the trinkets and baubles, even rings that had been lost carrying precious stones were ignored, silent as his reflection stared back at him.  
Murder looked at all the precious things with wide eyes, wondering if Toriel would like any of them as Nightmare watched Horror run his phalanges along the cracks, a very flawed mirror as Horror then started picking and pulling at what was keeping it together, trying to pull out a piece that was almost diamond-shaped.  
“ this is it.”  
As soon as Horror affirmed that, spiders leapt out by the dozens behind them and weaved the way back shut.  
“ intricate.” Murder remarked, barely blinking, all three of them having expected this since the spider webs, “ fast work too.”  
“ Ahuhuhu, Hello Dearies~” 

A piece of garbage above was shifted for a beam of the light outside to shine down on the Muffet bitty obscuring their path back.  
“ sup. what’s a bitty like you doing in a place like this?” Murder chuckled as the spiders were quite visibly surrounding them, Horror eying the spiders that were getting a little too close as he continued to pry at the mirror.  
“ I could say the same for you deary~. Looking to steal from me?”  
Nightmare huffed as he hated stupid rhetorical questions, “ this is exactly what it looks like.” 

The Muffet blinked in surprise that Nightmare would be so straight forward.  
“ I would hope it’s not a gift deary, otherwise I would have to scold you on bad taste~”  
Horror just grinned a little wider, shrugging her off.  
“ Ahuhuhu, that is pathetic.” She laughed behind her hand like a stereotypical anime princess.  
“ well, ya live here and there can’t be anything more pathetic than that.” Horror stared to her unflinchingly with his single glowing eyelight, yanking out the mirror piece with a _crack!_ , stepping away from the rest of the broken mirror, tucking it to his side and putting his cleaver back on his shoulder. “ now if ya don’t call off your little group here, some spiders are gonna lose some legs-”  
“ we just want to grab the gift and leave.” Nightmare interjected, irritated, but being the voice of reason as Murder was starting to twitch with his eye sparking, if the situation wasn’t diffused soon everyone was going to have a _mad time_ , “ we will continue to not tell our owner about you all living here and you leave us alone.” 

“ Ahuhuhuhu, If that was all we were going to agree on then we wouldn’t have revealed ourselves.” The Muffet Bitty giggled.  
“ for fucks sake, if ya tell me we have to pay a toll to go back, then i swear i will kill every last one of you.” Horror growled through grinning teeth as he prodded a spider away hard with the edge of his cleaver, it being too close for comfort but not willing to start an all-out slaughter because of it.  
Yet anyways.  
“ Oh come now deary, us Muffet bitties may have a reputation of being expensive but it’s all for good causes~” The Muffet bitty lounged back in her web, her five eyes narrowing at them, “ However you will to return my property. It’s mine and you can’t take it.” 

“ well it was ours first, and we’re not takin’ all of it, so suck it up buttercup.” Horror held the fragment tighter to him to the point it was cutting into his bones, but he merely held the cleaver tighter as his red eye was bright.  
“ calm down horror!” Nightmare hissed, grabbing Murder as he was raising his hand to materialize bones, “ there is a simpler way to handle this.”  
Both bitties looked to him and Nightmare looked around them before sighing, looking absolutely done with everything about this situation, teleporting right beside the Muffet bitty as his tentacles wrapped around her neck like a flash of black lighting.  
Her six arms came up and started clawing at the tentacle, but the attempts were futile as it refused to take damage from her.  
He lifted her off the ground and she started clinging to the tentacle to stop all the tension and gravity from being placed all on her neck as the spiders went insane, a few pouncing, but a slash from Horror and a stab from Murder and they were gone, Horror splattered with pale blue spider blood now as the Muffet bitty kicked in distress. 

“ alright, so we’re walking out of here with the mirror shard without any problems.  
we wouldn’t have bothered you more than taking this _one shard_ , but you had to go and try to make this difficult. Now, either you’re going to let us go with no more than just a couple of spiders lost, and we’ll never see each other again, or we can do it the hard way, and trust me, if you take the hard way, you’re going to have a _really bad time_.”  
He wasn’t going to threaten her with death, he knew it was very disproportionate to what she was doing, trying to get something she took for herself back, but Nightmare had to be dragged down this horrid memory lane and he will be absolutely damned if the trip was all for nothing.  
He loosenedhis hold on her enough for her to speak.  
“ A-Alright, please let me go!” She whispered in horror.  
Nightmare then lowered her to the ground, his goo creating a tar ring around her neck as she looked as though she was going to cry.  
Nightmare was so done with this day as he shoved his hands in his pockets, “ i hope we never meet again.” He muttered as if in way of apology, turning and leaving with a twitchy Murder and a blood-splattered Horror holding their prize as they left the bitty and the spiders swarming her to see if she was okay, Horror cutting the way back with the cleaver. 

Murder, Horror and Nightmare appeared right next to the house as soon as they got a far enough distance from the spider and her bitties to feel good about teleporting.  
They entered the small door into the home to find Stellini there as Void and him were testing out the camera that they were installing in Toriel’s scarf to record the owner in the act when they got back, Void dealing with a lot of the technical stuff that no one else but Stellini and Flames understood as the Grillby bitty was making dinner with Deme.  
Flames then noticed Horror and made a motion to Deme to turn away so she wouldn’t see the gift as he made his way over to the skeleton, Horror offering up the handle to the large cleaver as Flames took that and made a questioning motion at the blood.  
“ dealt with a coupla spiders, flames, no big deal.”  
Flames then nodded, motioning Horror to follow him so they could make a few alterations to the mirror fragment.  
As they were leaving, Void made a sound that caused Flames looked back to the Gaster bitty and made a motion he would deal with working on the gift with Horror himself and that it was fine. 

Unlike the rest of the group Nightmare however made his way to the elevator on Deme’s platform, that being the only place he was properly allowed to be in without anyone bothering him about it as he went to the window and climbed onto the sill overlooking the neighborhood, curling against the glass, losing himself in thought about the past and how to cope with now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Killer was staring out of the window of his room to the living room of the Owner of Lighter and Red’s place, it being dark outside.  
There was a knock on the door, the door opening to show Red carrying a tray that had half a loaf of bread and some soup, the delicious scent wafting over to him, Killer finding anticipation rising inside him, easily able to identify his emotions now with the help of Lighter.  
“ ‘sup fucker.” Red stepped in and kicked the door behind him shut, striding over.  
“ what the fuck are you even doing here, ugly?” Killer asked, quirking a brow at the other skeleton.  
“ ya fucking skipped out on dinner after doing what you did, so i brought dinner to ya when ya decided to be a chicken shit and not show up.”  
Killer grinned to the other bitty, “ since when were edgys such mommies?”  
“ oh fuck you!” The Edgy bitty slammed the tray down on Killer’s lap hard, causing it to slosh a little bit, the bread soaking it up as Killer barely even twitched, merely giving a grin as Red scowled and pried his hands from the tray.  
“ ya ain’t a fuckface ‘cause you’re a killer, you’re just that for being the sake of it.” 

“ well you caught me doc.” Killer shrugged before slowly giving him a pointed look, “ ...and i don’t like being compared to the others.”  
There was a silence as they stared to one another before Red scowled, “ then don’t fuckin’ call out on all edgies on behalf of me.”  
Killer felt a small bit shock zap through him for a second as Red sat on the other side of the window, staring at him as he brought his knees up and draped his hands on them.  
“ not all bitties in their types are the same, there can be fuckin’ differences. just ‘cause i like to cook and feed people doesn’t fuckin’ mean that i’m any less of an edgy bitty, jackass.”  
“ then am i less of a killer bitty because i don’t want to be forced into something?” Killer bit back. 

The silence was tense as Red drummed his phalanges against his knee, waiting for Killer to explain himself.  
“ i saw the pictures you guys had of other killers thanking color for helping them, but i’m not them. i have a family who tolerates me the way i am, and i liked being the way i was- with only few regrets, regrets that i will right, but otherwise, I am fine with being the hateful jerk i was before who took delight in violence, because i know i’m not the only one who liked me like that.” Red’s scowl seemed to die down a bit as he drummed his phalanges a little more.  
“ the nightmare.”  
Killer’s scowl deepened, not liking the way Red said that like Nightmare wasn’t a bitty, like he was some kind of abomination.  
“ yes, fucking Nightmare, don’t talk about him like he’s some kind of ticking time bomb, he’s better than i am by a fuckin’ longshot.”  
“ that’s just _your_ nightmare.” Red pointed out before letting another moment of silence slip through, “ so ya really wanna go back? after all this progress and yer emotions stabilizin’?” 

“ nightmare and the other’s aren’t just some fucking random bitties to me. i can feel it in my soul, no matter how much horror hates me and how much toriel is scared of me, they are my family, and i’m not leaving them for an uncertain future i don’t fucking want.”  
“ well then…” Red scratched his cheek bone, “ guess we can’t really fucking stop ya.”  
Another beat passed by as that all sunk in. 

“ you’re really letting me go? so easily?” Killer asked, a little confused, Red giving him a pointed look and a scoff.  
“ lighter and i ain’t your fuckin’ owner, we ain’t sadists. a little forceful in our work, but it’s gotten the job done before.” Red stated pointedly, “ but we gotta talk about what you’re gonna do in the place of having your own emotions seein’ as the nightmare’s gonna fuck up yer progress.”  
He rubbed the back of his vertebrae, looking outside the window, “ never really heard of alternatives to havin’ your soul fixed, but that looks like it’s how it’s gonna go, so after ya had yer dinner we’re gonna go talk ta lighter.” He looked back with his red eyelights to Killer as he dug into the dinner that was just as delicious as it smelled, the edgy bitty looking to the soul that looked like an upside down heart until Killer was finished, where they both stood and left to talk to Lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys wanna talk to the bitties? Head on over here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dotchi13  
> And ask us your questions! There is also adoption available officially now nwn


	15. Killer Comes Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much happens in this chapter... So much.

While everything had been happening for Killer at Lighter’s place, Toriel and Murder had long since noticed Nightmare barring himself from the others and staying curled by the window as they gave their goodnights to everyone.  
Void watched after them, Flames, Deme and Horror watching a movie on Patience’s laptop, the bitty owner letting them have the device for their enjoyment as Murder and Toriel looked to the platform and where Nightmare was before each other.  
“ alright, i know what you’re gonna say, let’s go up and talk to him, way ahead of you Tori.” Murder gestured her up, Toriel zooming up faster than the platform would have done as she landed on her feet gracefully, having long since mastered being handled by blue magic, Murder popping by her side as they looked at Nightmare only to feel shock course through their systems finding him what looked to be in unconscious or in a trance. 

The gooey bitty was curled in on himself as black and cyan magic sparked around him, swirling almost menacingly as Toriel could feel her heart drop to her stomach.  
“ Oh no…”  
The closer she got to nightmare, the more she found tears spilling out in big heavy drops as she was overwhelmed with negative emotions, sadness and fear being the biggest ones, almost to the point where she didn’t want to approach him, staggering as she choked in breath, reaching for him.  
“ Nightmare…” She sniffled, dropping to her knees before him as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him up as the tentacles subconsciously wrapped around her tightly, “ Nightmare wake up!”

She found herself sobbing as she shook him and clung to him, everything having taken a nosedive so fast her head was spinning as she felt a hand on her back and she looked to see Murder, who looked almost physically ill with his right eye dark and his left one flowing with blue and red magic as he was trembling, Nightmare’s hold on his negativity shaking him down to his core.  
“ toriel…”  
“ Murder, please go get Deme!” She clung tighter to the gooey skeleton that stayed unconscious as Murder nodded, shaking even harder as he teleported away, hearing a crashing sound downstairs as well as a shout of surprise from what sounded like Horror, terror welling more inside her as her ears started ringing.  
It was only when another hand was placed on her that she realized her ears were ringing because she was screaming, for almost no reason.  
Everything was happening to fast to her it was as if her world was blurry, everything happening so quickly to her no matter how long it actually took before warmth spread through her in an almost dizzying way, Toriel finding herself looking to Deme’s face, the little goddess filling her with warmth and light before the ethereal bitty wrapped an arm around Nightmare.  
“ Deme…” Toriel whispered as Deme bowed her head to Nightmare.  
“ I’m sorry Nightmare. I am sorry everything turned out the way they did…” Deme murmured, talking solely to the unconscious skeleton, “ But you cannot let yourself do this. You cannot seal yourself into a ball just because you lost your purpose in life, because you lost Killer. We care about you, We don’t want to lose you. I am sorry I have let myself ostracize you from everyone else because of another person. I placed unreasonable expectations on you and I know that now. I beg for your forgiveness, my friend. Please… You cannot abandon those that think of you as their brother, you cannot abandon your friends.”  
“ We Love you Nightmare.” Toriel whispered to him, that probably being words Nightmare had never heard before as she felt arms around them twofold, it being Murder and Horror, both looking shaken from the overwhelming emotional beating down they were receiving from the unconscious skeleton.

“ we’ve known you for a long time nightmare, and we haven’t been on the best of terms most of the time… but we went through owner’s bullshit altogether, all four of us. it’s just the three of us now with tori. you’re going through shit but…” Muder started, his trademark grin having twisted into a grimace of pain.  
“ ya don’t have to do it alone. i may have fucking hated killer’s lack-of-guts on more than one occasion, but we are still your bros even if we never say it.” Horror grumbled, looking very hesitant to say it, but he did put it out there, “ now get the hell up and stop being so dramatic, anymore power of friendship stuff and we’re going to gag.”  
Deme and Murder snorted in surprise with Toriel blinking away her tears before giving a small smile.  
“ well you’re right about that.” Nightmare muttered as he opened his eye in their hold, looking to all of them, “ alright alright, i get it, you guys care about me and used Deme’s magic to pull me out of being the negativity bomb…” He looked to the side before to all of them, “ … thanks.” 

“ you’re welcome, now don’t be that stupid ever again.” Horror answered as Nightmare then looked to every one of them, his eyes locking with Toriel as it was through that she understood that he had heard everything they told him while he was in his trance, or at least most of it.  
She smiled to him showing she didn’t regret her choice of words before she stood and set him on his feet, Murder looking at the time, finding it very late.  
“ we lookin’ to do another bitty pile again?”  
Everyone looked to Nightmare and a cyan blush crept up on the black tar of his face, “ i mean… i guess i wouldn’t object…”  
Not long after all bitties were piled together, and all felt that instinctual feeling of belonging instilling in all of them as they fell asleep together.  
However not all of them slept well, still floating along in nightmares alone with the only friend he knew could take it gone, Nightmare found himself waking at the crack of dawn, something that he never did before.  
He laid in the pile, still, letting everyone continue sleeping before he found it in himself to slip away from the warmth of those that cared about him and the one still learning to, approaching the window again as he stood there, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stared at the sun rising.  
He let out a puff of air after nearly an hour watching the sun rise and detach from the houses blocking his view before he noticed something moving in his sight, suddenly looking to see Killer followed by Lighter and another bitty Nightmare had never met approaching the garden. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Suddenly he was pressed against the glass as his tentacles snaked under the window and pried it open, letting him jump, dropping through feet of air but uncaring as he crashed onto it, racing over as they spotted him and Killer smiled, a true genuine smile Nightmare had never seen before breaking out into a run as well.  
However before they could meet Killer seemed seized in pain, freezing as he let out a gasp, causing Nightmare to stop immediately as he looked to see the upside down heart wavering, nearly glitching like static as reality crashed down on him.  
“ Killer…” He then looked from his friend to Lighter, “ Why did you bring him here?!”  
“ he was very insistent on coming back here and staying with you. it was his decision, not mine.”  
Lighter shrugged as Killer shook off the pain, real tears streaming down his cheeks but he merely charged head on and raced to Nightmare the rest of the way, their bodies crashing into one another as Nightmare held his best friend close to him, both of them locked in embrace as Nightmare was unable to cry, but he felt something inside him stop his voice like it was choking him as they held onto one another, Killer shuddering as his pain riddled his insides, the emotional pain making him cry enough for the both of them before Nightmare pulled away and looked over him, making sure there was not a scratch on him before looking to Lighter and the other bitty.  
“ explain, now.” He ordered.  
“ inside. we need to involve the others now, right?” Lighter offered.  
There was a small pause before Nightmare finally nodded and in a moment they teleported to the window sill, Nightmare sliding it closed. 

“ by the way, why did ya run at killer when ya coulda just teleported?” Asked the obvious edgy bitty.  
“ gives the story a bit more emotional weight don’t you think?” Lighter chimed as Killer was looking at the bitty pile while clutching his heart, “ how are you feeling killer?”  
“ like… i wanna do something like that.” Killer looked to Lighter, “ but also that doing that type of thing is stupid, i mean i don’t want to be squished by anyone.”  
“ understandable.” The edgy bitty shrugged as the others were stirring awake. 

“ killer?” Murder muttered as he pushed himself up, still a little drowsy as his clumsy moving started waking up Toriel and Deme, “ what the hell are you doing here?”  
“ it’s something my mate red and i were here to talk to you about.” Lighter pointed out as Deme sat up with Horror cradled in her arms, looking sleepy but alive.  
“ Alright, I’ll get breakfast started.” She murmured as she floated up onto her feet and motioned others to follow her with her head as Toriel walked her way over to Killer and Nightmare, smiling to them sleepily.  
“ Morning Killer. Welcome back, we-...” She chuckled slightly, embarrassed, “ Well _most_ of us missed you.”  
Killer nodded as they made their way down, the soft murmurings and stirring in the kitchen waking Void and Flames as they made their way out of their houses.  
Deme, Red and Flames joined forces and immediately set to work on making breakfast, and with their help soon Red was making some awesome Muffins while Deme was making Oatmeal to throw a bunch of fruit in fresh from her garden and Flames fried up the bacon and eggs, all of them making an all-rounded breakfast.  
Void stuck to Horror as he eyed the newcomers, sizing them up while they sat at the table- Murder staying in between Toriel and Lighter, Killer in between Lighter and Nightmare as his emotions were flip-flopping like crazy from the duality of their powers, eventually standing and going to the other side of the table while Horror leaned against the fridge eating a slice of pear.  
“ alright, will you two spit out what we need to do now?” Nightmare asked, agitated again.  
“ not yet. killer’s got stuff to say.” Red answered as he pulled out the amazing-smelling muffins.  
Everyone looked to Killer as he actually seemed to be a little _flustered_.  
“ alright alright…” He muttered before looking to Toriel, Void and Flames, finally locking eyes with the Grillby bitty. “ flames… ‘m sorry.”

A glass shattered on the ground as the fiery bitty and Deme stared at him with wide eyes seeing as Killer _apologized_ without sarcasm, Nightmare shooting them a look as Killer ignored the reaction and merely kept going.  
“ i don’t regret a lot of things, i liked who i was before and i’m not looking to take it back… but i do know one of the things i regret is trying to hurt you. you did nothing and i tried to maim you just because i was bored. you would have been the first actual bitty that i’ve hurt besides horror and murder if horror had not saved you, but then… you and the others would have never accepted us, even now you have been hating Nightmare when it was my decision and i went through with it. while i’m able to feel things and can be hurt by you and your words, i’m asking you to forgive me.” He muttered as he didn’t break eye-contact.

There was a silence before Flames made his way over, stopping right beside Killer as the empty-socketed bitty looked to him.  
“ ……………………. I forgive you Killer……………….. And I was hardly ever angry at Nightmare, so don’t worry about it……………” The bitty smiled to him before going back to the kitchen as Red gave Killer a grin in appreciation for him trying before Killer then looked to Toriel.  
“ and you…. well… you have been integrating yourself into this band of misfits in the month you’ve been with us… you’re starting to get our humor and our darkness… you’re not necessarily making us into angels of some type, you’re no therapist, but you are bringing us closer together in a way we needed, and I will admit, we wouldn’t have gotten if we got the error bitty instead of you. so... while i still think you’re sickeningly sweet in some ways, i know we needed that. in fact… i’m asking you and the others to soul-bond with me.” 

There was a small section of silence before it was broken.  
“ _What?_ ” Everyone except Lighter and Red stared at him with wide eyes.  
“ it’s not as shocking as he just put it.” Lighter answered immediately, trying to pacify everyone, “ we don’t mean romantic soul-bonds, we mean more adoptive soul-bonds, something monsters do with children that aren’t theirs or with people they consider their siblings to deepen their familial bond, we have a theory that it would work and give killer more of a conscience and thought to what he’s doing.”  
“ a theory?” Horror asked, perking a brow bone, obviously skeptical.  
“ well the goddamn truth be told it’s never really been fucking done before, all Killers we’ve fucking met usually want to be fully better, not come up with some substitution like killer here does.” Red pointed out, going beside his husband and putting his hands in his pockets, “ so we’re takin’ a shot in the dark here.”  
“ we think the more of you that helps in the bond the better it will turn out for everyone.” Lighter spoke up.  
“ what if it doesn’t work?” Murder asked in concern.  
“ well either nothing will fucking happen, or something will go all wrong and you will all become killers yourself.” Everything became silent before Nightmare spoke up.  
“ okay, i’ll do it.”  
Toriel looked to him before Murder, the hooded bitty looking from her imploring eyes to Killer.  
“ fine, we’ll do it, but if we become killers, i’ll kill you.”  
Killer seemed to think that was fair as Horror looked to Flames, Void and then Deme.  
Mixing his soul with Killers wasn’t very high on his list of things he wanted to do, but if it protected the three of them and kept his close friends happy, then he felt like he should accept, after all Killer and him could be the siblings that hate each other’s guts, no harm in that.  
And if worse comes to worse he could just kill everyone that turned and then himself, simple as that.  
“ alright, we’ll all do it. when?”  
“ as soon as possible.” Lighter answered seriously.  
“ as-” Horror then stopped and looked to Deme.  
He then stood and booked it to Flames’ house. 

“ what the fucking hell is his problem?” Red asked.  
“ ……………… He wants Deme to have his courting gift to her in case of anything happens to him.”  
Deme’s face turned bright red, Red and Lighter looking to each other in understanding as the whole situation hit Murder like a train.  
There was the chance that Toriel and him would never be the same again, they wouldn’t be able to feel things that they did before, almost nothing at all.  
He swallowed as he looked to Toriel before Horror reappeared with his gift draped in a cloth.  
“ Deme… it’s been fantastic knowing ya. you’re my best friend and ya are one of th’ things i love most in life, you’ve got the greatest food puns i’ve ever heard from anyone, an’ you are sweeter to me than pure sugar, i know we still have things to look out for in the future and that rose-colored glasses won’t be there forever… but even then i’m lookin’ to sticking with ya till the end. and when flames told me about bringing you the prettiest thing for ya, i couldn’t think of anything but this.”  
He pulled off the cover and showed off the diamond-shaped glass filed down to perfection with chrysanthemums sanded into it with the utmost and the closest eye to detail completely lining the mirror. 

“ flames helped me file down the edges, but when he showed me how to make shapes in the glass i knew i had ta put in the effort to put our flower inta it. and of course, it carries the prettiest thing in the world in it’s sight.” He mentioned as it was facing Deme, mirroring her unexpected shock and awe before tears welled up in her eyes as she looked to him, striding to him and kissing him straight on the teeth.  
“ No matter what happens Horror, I’m here for you.” She murmured to him as he held her close to him, but before anything could become too complacent Red snapped his fingers twice, trying to be as respectful as possible to the moment.  
“ really sorry to break this up but we shouldn’t hold this off guys.”  
Toriel nodded in understanding and stood with Murder and put her hand in Nightmare’s while he stood, Horror detaching from Deme and giving thanks to Void and Flames whom hugged him before the group broke up, meeting with Killer again as he was on Deme’s platform, looking to them and nodding.  
Murder wrapped his arm around Toriel and grasped Lighter’s offered hand with Nightmare grasping Killer’s, Horror connecting with Red as the three of them teleported away to the Observatory at Lighter and Red’s place.  
“ just in case there’s any magical outburst that could affect the others.” Lighter explained, “ we literally have no idea how this is going to go, so anything can happen and it would be better to just be prepared for everything.”  
“ fair enough.” Murder shrugged before Killer sat in the very center and soon Murder, Toriel, Horror and Nightmare formed a square around him as Lighter looked to Red in case he wanted to leave.  
“ even if something happens to me, babe, it’s not like i’m leaving your fucking side anytime soon.” His mate shrugged with a wink of his scarred socket. 

Lighter nodded before he cupped around Killer’s soul, drawing it out even further than just hovering before his chest, bringing it above his head, the dimness of the room being illuminated by the red glow of the upside-down target soul along with the multi-colored flames spilling from Lighter as he seemed to hang the soul in a space above Killer’s head before he then walked to Nightmare first, the gooey bitty reaching to his chest and pulling out his soul with a bit of effort, the heart as gooey as he was, upside down and dripping a black and cyan- streaked substance.  
“ lighter.” He muttered as he stared at it before he looked to the other bitty, “ i know we don’t like each other, but I trust you in this. Killer is the brother that showed he wouldn’t leave me like the other one did…” He looked to the ground before back to him, “ please do your best.”  
“ no worries nightmare. i want the best for all troubled bitties, just like killer, it’s how i was made. if this is what makes everything good for everyone, then why not try it out.” He shrugged before he hung it over Nightmare’s head, walking to Toriel next.  
“ how are you doing?” Lighter asked as Toriel was drawing her soul out of her body with her own paws, a perfectly harmless white soul in the form of an upside down heart.  
“ A little jittered, but Killer is important, I’m happy to help.”  
Lighter chuckled as he cupped the soul and lifted it to hang it above her head, “ that’s the _spirit_ tori.”  
She chuckled softly before he walked to Murder.  
“ no looking back?” Lighter questioned as he looked to the upside down heart tinged a pale red with a Murder’s born determination.  
“ well… i do have one thing to say…” Murder spoke up before he looked to Toriel, “ tori… i never got to say it before but… i think i’m in love with you.”  
Toriel looked to him in shock, but he kept going, “ and if we can get through this together, i want to start courting you, because you are so important to me-” He then stopped himself, bright purple, “ but that can wait after this.”  
She looked stunned as she nodded to him, blushing bright pink, “ Alright.”  
Lighter then approached the last one, Horror.  
“ this is your last chance Horror. If you need to leave-”  
“ i’m going to stop you right there.” Horror merely answered as he drew out his white and cracked soul, “ i said i was going to do it. and unlike some sans’ who don’t keep their words until their promise, i mean every word that i say. take it.” 

Lighter nodded then and then took the soul, hanging it above Horror’s head, not missing the way the skeleton looked to the ground, steeling himself for what was next as Lighter strode backwards until his shoulder touched Red’s, both watching as Lighter ever so gently used blue magic to nudge the souls to one another.  
When they got into each other’s orbit they started to dance around each other, magic starting to spark around each other in flame red, blood red, purple, Cyan and black.  
All bitties seized up as their souls started to dance together, Nightmare’s the quickest to relax, it’s goo stretching out almost as if it had tentacles of it’s own, wrapping around Killer’s soul and drawing them in together as Nightmare’s eyelights disappeared.  
Horror’s became a part of the mass next, being drawn in as they melded with the other two, Horror’s eyelight disappearing as his grin showed still, strained as Toriel’s soul gently nudged the hesitant pale red of Murder’s the two merging with Killer’s and the other’s at the same time, all five of the mixing above Killer’s head, Lighter and Red noticing then all the bitties had tears streaming out of their sockets or eyes with the exception of Nightmare, crying but unmoving as they stayed sitting, Lighter watching then in alarm as Toriel’s eyes started leaking black sludge Murder and Horror doing the same as they started to tremble, Nightmare and Killer joining them as they shuddered.  
“ oh fuck fuck fuck! lighter we gotta get them outta there!”  
Lighter merely stared at them as if in a trance, Red feeling panic bubble inside him before he made his way over to Toriel in hopes of convincing one of them to help break up the group, however before he was even close to her her magic flared from her soul and fire circled her in a protective ring.  
“ shit!” Red cursed as Nightmare’s tentacles writhed wildly in threat of beating anyone trying to come close, bright blue bones surrounding Murder and white spiked ones going around Horror, Lighter immediately snapping out of it and yanking Red back as the souls continued to mingle and spark before just as suddenly as it started, it ended. 

The souls one by one pulled away to go back to their bodies, first Horror’s, then Murder’s, Toriel’s, then Nightmare’s as Killer’s floated downwards and hovered before his chest again as it was no longer in the shape of an upside-down heart showing that he was a Reformed Killer, instead looking like a circular target again, though inside the target was an upside down heart instead of rings, all of the defensive magic vanishing around them before they finally seemed to come into consciousness.  
“ What…?” Toriel reached up and touched at the goo streamed from her eyes, gasping softly as Murder and Horror reached up as well, making sounds of alarm before they noticed that the goo merely smeared away and was not being replaced, in fact being washed away by the tears before Nightmare turned first and rushed to Killer, wrapping his tentacles around him, Toriel looking to Murder before the three of them joined the two as Lighter and Red had no idea what had transpired completely, but one thing they did know was that it seemed to have worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I was not going to end this one on a cliffhanger, I wanted to put out a large chapter and get all of this done (Note that this is NOT the end of the story by a long-shot, just tying over most of the 'Killer is Gone' kind of arc), and if that was a bad choice I really can't do anything about it now, but please review and let me know just in case, and even if you didn't find it too much then leave me a review anyways and tell me what you liked about it, I always appreciate it!
> 
> If you want to talk to the bitties or adopt one head on over here:   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dotchi13


	16. Talking about it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone comes to terms with their feelings.

When the hugging and crying was done with the five of them were teleported back to Deme’s home with Lighter and Red, the attention of the three other bitties immediately going to them as Deme dashed over, grabbing Horror and lifting up as her eyes traveled over him, making sure he had no injuries and that he was himself before hugging him in relief.   
She would have kept her promise if Horror had turned into a Killer, but both knew it wouldn’t have been the same if he was unable to feel the feelings he had for her, both of them embracing each other before Void and Flames made his way over, the tiny Goopster cautiously approaching Killer as both Killer and Nightmare watched him, the smaller bitty gesturing to the circled heart.   
“ everything worked out as it should as far we can tell.” Killer nodded as if to himself as he reached to his newly changed soul, his fingers hovering over the it without tugging or pulling before he let his hand drop, only for his arm to get slugged in the shoulder by Red, causing him to blink in surprise. 

“ we’ll see you, fucker, we’ll be checkin’ up on you and the other crazy jackasses later just in case, but Lighter and I ‘ll be headin’ home for now, this whole thing was just a fuck ton to deal with in one day.”  
“ alright, we’ll see ya ugly.” Killer grinned to him, only for Red to slug him again.   
“ see ya fuckface.” Red chuckled before turning and walking to his mate, both wrapping their arms around each other’s shoulders, quietly speaking to one another as they teleported away.

Toriel watched as the two disappeared before turning her head to see Murder as he had already tried to start sneaking away, only for her to seize his hood and lift him off of the ground as he blushed bright purple, looking to her as he dangled there, kind of like the first day she had met him with her fishing him from the sink.   
The thought made her cover her mouth just like the last time, giggling as his eyelights softened to such a sound.  
“ tori… we don’t have to talk about thi-”   
Immediately her giggle stopped and she looked down to him before giving a small tsk.   
“ We will though Murder. It’s important.”  
Murder flinched a little, afraid of what was to happen as Toriel then wrapped an arm around him and took him to Deme’s place, using the elevator and setting him beside the house and he knew he was pinned.   
Sure, he could be able to teleport away but that wouldn’t really help him since being alone would definitely make him feel worse, and the look of disappointment she would have for him when he came back made that a definite no.   
He drew into himself as his cheekbones flushed brought purple with the mixing of his blue and red magic while Toriel sat on her knees across from him as well.

“ You confessed to me Murder. And I know why you did it, because if we became corrupted you wanted to say it before you didn’t feel it.   
But we came out of it alright, so now you have to deal with the consequences of your actions, just like everyone else does.  
What I don’t understand is when? And if it was a substantial amount of time from then until a few hours ago, why did you wait so long to tell me?”   
Murder let out a bitter laugh at that, his eyes locking with hers, “ Toriel, i’ve loved you since the second day you were in my home.”   
A look of shock crossed her face but he only watched her eyes as he continued on, “ you’re unlike anyone i’ve known before, you’re sweet and filled with perseverance, you always kept weathering the storms Horror, Killer and Nightmare caused until you got through to them on some level or another, some better than others.  
you caused chain reactions for everything good that has happened to us. I didn’t tell you what i felt ‘cause i don’t deserve you tori.   
i’m a sans, but i’m no classic. i hate myself and others like me so much that I can’t stand being around other sans-types alone, i can only tell dark jokes and get into fights with others. yeah, you started your own fights sometimes, but that was because you were ignorant, not because you purposefully wanted to kill them like i did-”   
Toriel leaned over as her furry paws cupped his skull, bringing him close, halting his speech as her forehead tapped his. 

“ You may hate yourself Murder, but I can love you enough for the both of us. And you’ve come a long way yourself in learning how to tolerate other sans-types.  
You worked together with Horror and Nightmare by yourselves in getting a gift for Deme, didn’t you? I wasn’t present, but you didn’t lose yourself and try to hurt the other two.” Her voice was light with pride for him, nearly making his soul tremble.  
“ And I’m getting used to the Dark Jokes, surely I can handle it.” She smiles in assurance as he watched her with wide eyesockets absorbing all she said quietly, “ What you did in the past was a biological reaction, being alone with others of your type was extremely unhealthy for you and your mental state, that was owner’s fault. Now that I’m here with you do you feel like you want to hurt them?”   
“... only if they tried to hurt you.” Murder muttered in confession.   
“ Then haven’t you gotten better already?” Toriel asked as Murder pulled his hood over his face, trying to put a barrier between them.  
“ guess so…”   
“ Then I think we should do as you said and start courting each other.” She giggled and took him by the hood, pulling him in and giving him a kiss as he made a sound not unlike a tea kettle whistle before she finally pulled away and he nodded in wordless agreement before both Toriel and Murder noticed the black tears of hatred well in their eyes and spill down onto their cheeks.   
It surprised the both of them as they pulled apart further, sharing a look before he almost shyly reached out and took her paw in his hand before they went to try and find Killer to see what happened. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Killer had been watching Lighter and Red leave before he saw movement in the corner of his socket and looked to see Nightmare watching him.   
“ guess we gotta talk, right?” Killer stuffed his hands in his pockets, not one to dodge out of confrontation even when he was being ‘reformed’.  
“ i think we should.” Nightmare agreed as Flames and Void nodded, having been with them for the moment before ducking out of the situation together to Deme whom was pampering her datemate Horror in the kitchen.   
Nightmare had glanced to see Toriel had already grabbed Murder and was off to talk with him before he looked to Killer and then nodded towards the window.  
In a blink the two of them were sitting on the windowsill together, just him and Killer. 

“ nightmare…” Killer started when he was finally settled into a nice spot for himself, “ when the ritual was going on you were the first to bond with me and my soul.   
we’ve been living together for the past year, nearly all our lives together. And i could feel… i _can_ feel what you feel for me.” Killer asserted, “ it was what i felt about you when i was given my own emotions, and what i still feel with the emotions you guys have poured into me.”   
There was a pause before Killer made a face.   
“ guh, i don’t mean to be mushy-gushy at all, it disgusts me having described it like that, but it’s the only way i know how to ask this question…”   
He suddenly became serious, nearly taking gooey bitty off guard, “ Nightmare… did you feel the same way you do for me you once did for your born brother dream?”   
Nightmare went rigid at the mention of his brother and he could feel the negative emotions of such an allocation form and churn in his gut, but Killer merely stared at him, receiving his answer from how Nightmare reacted.   
“ you did. you felt such a way for him and he abandoned you without even lifting a finger.”   
Nightmare looked away, gritting his teeth, “ ...yeah.”   
He then jolted when Killer teleported in front of him, clasping his hand on one of his and holding it in a vice grip, not embracing him, but hold his hands like vices.   
“ are you afraid calling me your brother would cause me to abandon you like that dream did?”   
Nightmare stared at him wordlessly as Killer grimaced, feeling hate for the Dream bitty well up and spill inside, however his black tears only continued to sluggishly flow.  
“ nightmare. there’s so much we’ve gone through and had fun together with, i honestly can’t imagine a world without you there, as shittily cliched as that sounds. you’re my brother, no one else’s, not even the dream’s. if there’s anyone that wants to dispute that i won’t need a knife to kill ‘em.   
thanks to the soul bond, you and the others are just as bonded to me as born brothers and sisters, even fresher than what you had with that dream. Nightmare, will you accept being my brother?”   
“ you even have to ask?” Nightmare asked as he clasped his hands back on Killer’s like similar vices, “ you know what my answer is… brother.”   
They grinned to one another before they noticed the flicker of color, looking to see Toriel, Murder and Horror with black tears of hatred running down their face. 

“ I suppose this wasn’t a temporary thing.” Toriel murmured after Nightmare and Killer stood as she gestured to herself, Horror and Murder, the only ones seemingly unaffected being Killer and Nightmare, but that was because Nightmare was physically unable to cry and was covered in goo like Killer’s.   
“ whenever you feel a lot of hate your soul gives it to us so you aren’t completely filled with it.” Murder muttered as he swiped at the goo, brushing it away, “ guess it’s good to know.”   
“ Rather than get surprised about it later.” Deme pointed out as she guided them all down off the platform and towards the kitchen area.   
“ yeah.” Nightmare nodded and shrugged a little, “ well it’s a price we’ll gladly pay.”   
They all had to agree, though they had to wonder how owner would be taking this.   
They still had a week before they showed up again.   
A countdown to a bad time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally did it! The power couple is finally established and the brother figures finally call them what they have been thinking!   
> Despite how short this chapter is I'm pretty satisfied with it.   
> But I want you guys to tell me what you think and how you feel about it, so Review Please!


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